Death
by Don Socrates
Summary: Percy Jackson returns after what's been three months for the Camps, but nearly one hundred and sixty years for him. Artemis finds herself in desperate need of his helps but she also notices just how much he's changed through his time away. The thing that shocked her the most was how he'd ascended mortality and become a complete enigma to everyone. Formerly 'The Vengeful One'.
1. Chapter 1 - What?

**Chapter 1. What?**

"That is enough! If any of you want to continue of your current path then your first and last opponent will be me!" Percy boomed loud enough to silence any and all Romans arguing about waging war on the Greeks. The Argo had opened fire on new Rome before Percy had returned from a short 'hunting' trip.

The Greeks had gotten back on board after their little problem with Leo being possessed and shooting multiple celestial bronze cannonballs directly into the council. Octavian, the Apollo legacy had bravely stepped forwards brandishing a spear and a shield. For his entire life, Percy had trained in many different ways, not simply the Greek combat style, but a multitude, all of which he had perfected with a masterful skill, enough so that to the utmost surprise of the Olympian council Ares himself had spoken highly of the son of Poseidon.

"Do not listen to any more of his lies! He is a graceus that has infiltrated our city and plans on slaughtering us all!" Octavian shouted, his voice not carrying anywhere near as far as Percy's. Percy grunted towards the legacy with the big mouth.

"Son, your mouth is writing checks that your body can't cash." Percy sneered. This was the alst thing he needed, especially after everything that he'd just been through. First he lost Annabeth to another, now he'd been rejected by Uriel, an Angel that he'd come across on his trip to hunt down a monster so evil it had earned the title of Demon. He'd changed in his travels, and he hoped that no too many would notice, especially as this was the first time he'd been back in territory that the Gods could sense him in.

A few Gods were watching the exchange from their thrones, respectively. Octavian pointed his spear straight at Percy. Reyna could only watch in silence. She wanted to let Percy continue, so badly she wanted to let him continue on his current path because she knew that it would put Octavian in his place, but on the other hand, and she hated to admit it, Octavian actually did have a point. The Greeks had come to their city and unleashed multiple attacks on the council building. Such was an act of war, and only a miracle could stop the two camps from ripping each other's throats out. "You cannot take us all on Jackson. You're in the center of our camp, you'll never make it out alive and where would that put us? Oh yes, against a camp without their ace." Octavian grinned like a madman before his smirk was wiped straight off his face by Percy's own solemn chuckle.

"Oh boy, you are full of yourself. I've been around the world through a time vortex after getting in a fist fight with the Titan Lord of Time. Don't believe me? Check how many scars I have over my body. I've been in conflicts that have lasted longer than your so far pathetic life. Octavian, listen to my words. It would take a couple of Gods plus every soldier you have just to fight me to a standstill." Percy told the auger, gaining more and more glares in response. Before the Auger could actually respond, there was an almost blinding glare of what seemed like pure sunshine before a mortal sized version of Apollo stood in the center of the circle that the Legion had made around Percy.

"I cannot let you do what you were planning on doing Perseus, I'm sorry but I must protect them." Phoebus Apollo looked genuinely sympathetic towards Percy. He knew that Percy was only trying to keep the peace between the two camps after their riot had broken out but Apollo also knew what kind of truths were inside Percy's mind, and that was something that he simply couldn't stand by and watch.

"I-" Percy was cut off by yet another flash of light, this time it was silver and platinum with a hint of lingering light before it faded away to reveal Lady Diana, the Roman Huntress with her bow already pointed at Percy. The Greek in her was struggling to fight with the Roman because they were in new Rome surrounded by Roman Demi-Gods. Artemis was tolerant of Percy, in fact she'd go so far as to say that she considered him a friend, but this wasn't Artemis at the moment.

"I'm sorry Perseus, but I simply cannot let you continue down your chosen path, and I will not let my incredibly fool hardy brother fight you alone... You would destroy him with ease, according to what we've seen of your past seven years." Diana told him, even her eyes seemed to become softer as she continued to speak to the son of Poseidon.

"I must warn you, as a friend... You would be making an incredibly foolish decision, both of you, to attack me. Once I have been attacked, by anyone, I am free to fight back, such is the code that I must now live my life... Though I AM curious. You say you've seen my life in the past seven years... Was that all? Just seven years?" He asked them, looking from God to Goddess. Apollo looked confused for a moment before it all dawned on him. Diana looked horrified.

"How much did you endure before you were freed, how much had you gone through before you were finally returned to the present day?" Apollo asked, slightly lowering his bow and loosening the arrow from the tense string. Diana kept hers in perfect aim.

Percy remained silent as he continued to stare down two Roman Olympians. "My lord, what are you talking about?" Octavian asked, finally gathering enough courage to get up and ask his ancestor. Apollo looked towards the measly demi-god with moderate disgust.

"Perseus Jackson... Is no longer a demi-god. He was at the time that he was hunting down a weak mortal vessel of Saturn, but things took a turn for the worst. Percy?" Apollo looked towards Percy to continue and fill in the blanks that the Gods had not been aware of.

"One hundred and fifty two years. Six months. Five days. Eight hours. I endured the tortures of Tartarus before I worked my way up, hunting and slaughtering everything I found. I earned a very special title after I crossed into a parallel dimension, a place that was... Worse than Tartarus." Percy admitted with what seemed like shame on his usually expressionless face. He had gone from a boy to a cold hearted man from the things he had been through during his long life.

Diana's bow dropped, not just from it's position with Percy firmly in it's sights, but completely, to the floor. She had no idea. He'd been randomly and erratically popping up on their Godly radar for the past seven years but never for enough time to be found, and even that was something that was caught in a time vortex. Each time he appeared, he was gone within seconds, but they weren't oblivious to his personal passage of time.

"He's no longer a demi-god because he passed from Tartarus to Hell. Not Hades but HELL. He went from a mortal to... A Demon." Apollo told them. Diana looked on with sadness present on her features. Her only male friend, and he was just about the most broken and fucked up person she'd ever met. Over one hundred and fifty years of torture in Tartarus only to be cast into the deepest pit of outer darkness saved only for those who had ascended their mortality and found something much worse. The embrace of their own inner darkness.

"I can't let you live... I am genuinely so sorry Perseus, but as a council we cannot let you go on." Apollo grew in size to his godly form. Diana, much like Reyna, had resorted to watching in silence. She didn't want this, any of it, but Apollo couldn't lie, it was against his nature. Percy WAS dangerous and could possibly turn out to be a bigger threat than all of the Titans combined.

An arrow with the power of a God was propelled straight towards Percy at incredible speed. Just before it hit its mark, they all clearly heard the son of Poseidon sigh before the arrow caused a small and contained explosion. Despite it's size, it's power was huge and terrifying, a solid reminder to the demi-gods of what even the less powerful Olympians were capable of.

Once the dust cleared, Percy was stood with two fingers extended, having caught the arrow by the flat of it's head. The stopping force of them had caused the explosion. Apollo was shocked, nobody should have ever been able to do that, not even a God, yet here he was, looking disappointment with the healer's attack.

"That constitutes towards an attack, now if I wanted to I could cast you into a cold abyss of frozen tears alongside Lucifer, but I won't because I'm kind and I like you Apollo." Percy announced with narrowed eyes before he seemed to be composing himself. He opened his hand and let the arrow drop to the ground now nothing more than a shaft of splinters.

"I will leave you and the camps alone to deal with your own problems, but mark my words, this is a war that you cannot win with some demi-gods and good timing. You need some seriously heavy hitters that aren't bound by your laws." Percy told the Gods, now completely happy to ignore the demi-gods all together. Diana glared at him, this wasn't the Percy she knew, not the one that she liked, this was just as Apollo had claimed. He was a pale imitation of the man that he used to be.

"Who? Who can we rely on for help in this matter?" Apollo asked, sure that Percy wasn't simply referring to himself. He must have realized that the Gods wouldn't accept the help of a man that had wandered so far down the wrong path.

"Me, you stupid bell-end." Percy almost face palmed at how simply the answer should have been, especially to Apollo of all people.

Apollo was silent for a moment, exchanging a glance with Diana which lasted no longer than a split second. "Perseus, we simply cannot and will not ally ourselves with a Demon. I'm afraid to say, but you will be hunted now and forever until you are brought to non-existence." Apollo was seriously out of options and as proven before, his attack seemed to do absolutely nothing against a relaxed Percy, he'd need far more backup than simply Diana. He'd need Jupiter and Neptune by his side at the very least. Perhaps Venus could do something in the way of lowering his guard with her charmspeak.

"Oh for fuck sake, I've had enough of this." Percy sighed once more before turning his wrist as casually as ever, causing a swirling ripple of black smoke to appear at his side. "I'm going to say this once, and only once. You're wrong, I'm not a Demon, and I can help you in this war if you accept my conditions, all you've got to do is promise that none of you will attack me if I attend a meeting of yours." Percy told him, looking towards Apollo for a response. It was quite a lot to take in. When was Apollo EVER wrong when it came down to important things?

"How will we find you?" Diana asked wearily. Percy looked her way, letting the two of them lock with each other's eyes. This was the first time she'd really noticed it but there WAS something different from the Percy she knew. His eyes were cold, so very cold and not holding the same mirth that the once vibrant sea green orbs held, no, something had drastically changed aside from his once near perfect iris' that were now as cold and dark as night.

"You don't. I find YOU when you wish to speak with me. Oh and one more thing, stop calling me Percy Jackson. My name is Death." And with that, he had vanished through the opening he had created. Neither Diana nor Apollo could sense him at all, which made them both wonder whether or not they had actually sensed him in the first place or whether they had simply witnessed him entering the camp.

"This needs to be taken to Olympus." Diana told Apollo before she had vanished. Apollo sighed knowing that it was now his job to ensure the continued safety of the Romans and in turn the Greeks who were in their ship a few miles away.

 **Line Break, how are you liking it so far?**

Artemis had been in such a hurry to escape the bombardment of questions from the throne room that she very nearly crashed into the side of the clearing where her hunters had been holed up for the past few days. She'd been so busy with dealing with the current crisis of Percy's return that she'd literally had NO time to even check on the safety of her hunters, a very selfish thing in her own mind but no less necessary considering what they now knew about the mysterious enigma that had been Percy Jackson's life for the past three months which for him had been one hundred and fifty nine years.

"Lady Artemis!" Thalia almost fell off of her camping stool where she'd been positioned as the night time lookout. Artemis nodded, gaining her breath once again before gazing towards the moon. Everything under it's silver gaze was within her sight and jurisdiction, yet as of now, HE would never be.

"Is everything ok milady?" Thalia asked, getting to her feet after noticing her mistress' distress. If it was immediately obvious to Thalia then it must have been BAD. Artemis almost laughed at her. OK? Of course it wasn't. Percy was back but as someone else entirely. The Gods had been forced to tell the campers that Percy had disappeared but as part of the plan to switch a demi-god from each camp in order to strengthen their bonds.

They had exactly NO idea on what to say when Percy had disappeared from them completely, and it was all their fault that he had. They didn't know where he was for the first month, but Tartarus? That definitely wasn't on their list of suspicions, and for over a hundred and fifty years of what must have been constant torture before he'd finally escaped and gone on a killing spree of the worst that Tartarus had to offer.

The thing that got to her the most was what he had become. Surely he couldn't mean THE Death? She so desperately hoped that it was just a name he'd earned from his incredibly vengeful slaughter of Hell's denizens, but deep down she knew that hoping for that was going to be a lost cause. She'd sensed something about him being cold and she was sure that was what it was, the fact that he was Death itself.

"No, I'm really not. Excuse me, I need to try and contact someone. Inform the hunters that I shall be returning to camp later tonight. I'll explain everything to you soon Thalia." Artemis told her with a wave of her hand before bolting off towards the forest behind them. She'd need privacy for what she was planning on doing. She found a little stream that flowed beautifully under the silver moonlight.

He'd said that they couldn't find him but he found them when they needed him, well right now she needed him to answer some personal questions, and if he wasn't actually a Demon but Death as he'd claimed, then he would have no problems with indulging Artemis' curiosity.

"Perseus, I need you. Come here... Please." She had got on her knees, closed her eyes and started to do the closest thing to praying that a God had ever gotten to. She felt nothing change, not even the wind shifted the slightest bit. Looking around she couldn't find or sense him.

She returned her focus to the water thinking of how much the old Percy would have loved this spot. A thought had come to her, she'd figured out how to summon him. Closing her eyes once more and giving every ounce of focus that she had, she whispered one thing. "Death..." There was a rustle of leaves before nothing but the gentle water could be heard.

"Hello Lady Artemis." A strong and caring voice spoke up just behind her. She couldn't believe that it had actually worked. He truly was something extremely powerful to have answered a summons that had been made with nothing more than a single word. Getting to her feet and turning to face him she was stunned.

There he was, the Percy Jackson she knew, simply older and more refined. He stood with an impeccable black suit complete with a raven waistcoat that matched his long swept back hair perfectly. Literally the ONLY thing that was different was the fact that his eyes no longer shined with an emerald gleam but instead seemed to hum with a dull lifeless black, a solid reminder of who he'd become.

"Perseus." She gasped, still amazed that he'd actually answered the call and come here to her. Percy sucked his teeth, much to the initial annoyance of Artemis. It was something that if any other male had made in her presence, she would have given them a free genital removal service, but this wasn't any male and he had already proven that the Godly arrows rivaling her own had been nothing more than baby-town frolicks to him.

"You're going to keep calling me than aren't you?" He asked her the question, the answer of which he already knew, but he didn't blame her. He was, at his core, still Percy Jackson, just with inconceivable amounts of power.

"I have to. Calling you... Death. It hurts me Perseus, because it's just a constant reminder of where I failed to save a demi-god, a friend. It resulted in my friend being tortured for over a century and a half!" Artemis argued, her eyes were so close to threatening to betray her emotions. She wanted so badly to just be able to act cold towards him, but then, she'd always had a certain weakness for him.

The same son of Poseidon that had taken the burden of holding the sky from Artemis without any hesitation so that she could save the lives of her hunters. The same Percy Jackson who had unexpectedly had an explosive episode at Aphrodite after she'd been foolish enough to insult Artemis.

Of course it was going to be him, the one male that she'd developed a small soft spot for, that ended up as possibly the oldest and most ancient personificated deity in existence. He was said to be the one to reap the souls of Gods at the end of time.

"Well if you must, then please, just stick to Percy." He said at last, smiling in her direction. It sent a chill down her spine and she wasn't even sure why. It wasn't a sinister smile, but rather something that remained of the man she knew before. A small thing that survived the torture he'd endured. His signature lopsided grin was yet to make an appearance, but an endearing smile was more than Artemis had hoped for.

"Fine, Percy. I... I need you to clarify some things for me." She told him nervously. On her way back from Olympus, she'd aged, considerably considering she'd been in the form of an eleven year old when she'd left the camp days ago, and as Diana she'd been a couple of years older than that, but right now, for some reason, she felt the most comfortable being his physical age of early twenties. Who knew that Death looked so good for his age?

"Go ahead milady." He bowed his head at her. Incredible, even after ascending from mortality into quite possibly the Reaper himself, he still showed her nothing but respect. More and more unwelcome thoughts about the possibility that what she felt was possibly reciprocated by him had invaded her mind. She forced herself to focus on only what was important.

"Where does your allegiance stand?" She stared at him. His face went blank for a moment and he held no emotion as his eyes stared into hers but they were empty, he was not looking at anything in those brief few seconds. It was almost as if he was in many places at once but having to split his focus between them every now and then.

"My allegiance stands with myself. I fight for what I believe is right. You've picked a beautiful spot by the way, I really appreciate the way the moon reflects off of the running water." He told her, smiling gently as his eyes gazed towards the stream. That made her feel... Strange, she greatly enjoyed his words given the fact that she'd specifically decided to sit her after thinking that the old Percy would enjoy it. Maybe, just maybe, he hadn't actually changed that much.

"Ahem. I've gotten the answers I wanted but there was just one more thing. I needed to ask something of you." She told him sheepishly. He seemed to do nothing more than simply readjust his footing as he waited for her to tell him what she wanted him to do for her.

"I need you to-" She began but was quickly cut off by Percy simply saying no before she'd even gotten it out in words.

"B-but you don't even know what I was going to ask!?" She almost demanded. How was he able to convey so much raw power just through his sheer confidence around her? He was just so at ease even given the fact that, Godly arrows aside, her divine form could possibly cause him a few painful reminders that even to Death, Goddesses should not be provoked to their last nerve.

"Your tone of voice, you're not an idiot Lady Artemis, you would know that the only thing you'd need to appear sincere when asking is if I would venture back to Tartarus for you. And my answer is no. I've already had my fill of that decrepit pit. One hundred and fifty two years of it." He reminded her elegantly. She shamefully looked at her feet, he'd known it immediately just from her tone of voice? He really had changed into something else.

To her utmost surprise, when she lifted her head he was still there, casually gazing at the stream. "You're still here?" She was almost questioning herself about it. WHY was he still there?

"Of course, you wished to ask me a... Let's call it a favor. Just because I do not wish to go to Tartarus for you, does not mean that I will not help you out. Is there anything else you would ask of me that won't involve me possibly getting my wings clipped?" He asked her with a slight hint of sarcasm. It was small, barely noticeable, but Artemis had cracked a tiny smile at him. So it WAS there. The old Percy was still there, just hidden under layers upon layers of grief and whatever else was piled on top of him before he'd become Death.

"You could help me with the hunt for a little bit, perhaps give Thalia some personal training. She's willingly taking your position on the quest as you'd gone missing. She'll be going with the Seven through all of their trials, it would only be beneficial if she were to train under you for a while, and I figure that... Well, you're still her cousin, she'll want to see you." Artemis reasoned with him. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Very well, I'll train her, and the rest of your hunt for a few days and prepare them for the worst to come in this fast approaching war. I'll be in the middle of your camp at ten o clock sharp. Warn your hunters not to attack me or I'll throw them at Jupiter." Percy warned her with a serious expression.

Artemis shimmered in a silvery display before her features had changed somewhat. This was what Percy remembered from earlier that day. It was Diana instead of Artemis. "You'll throw my hunters at my father?" She asked in confusion. Why in Hades would he ever do that? Of course at this point it was clearly obvious that the only thing the king of the Gods could do in response to Death was to sit in his throne and let his aggravation continue to rise.

"No." Percy stated simply before starting to walk off. Diana shifted back into Artemis but held the exact same expression as before. Percy stopped walking before turning his gaze back to Artemis' perfect silver eyes. This was the first time he'd been able to properly appreciate them without the risk of dismemberment at the hands of the very Goddess that he'd found himself experiencing some strange emotions towards in his earlier years. "The planet." He clarified before there was a rustle of leaves in the wind and he was gone. He didn't even need to use the same teleportation as the Gods, he could just BE anywhere he wanted at anytime. It left Artemis curious as to how much power he now held but at the same time horrified that Percy could potentially hurl one of her hunters into space if they made the wrong move in the morning.

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	2. Chapter 2 - Seriously, what?

**Chapter 2. Seriously, what?**

Artemis looked around with worry. Oh Gods what if one of the hunters fired on him. Would he really launch them into deep orbit? Apollo had fired a Godly arrow at him yesterday and it had zero effect on the ex-demi-god.

"Girls, we've got a visitor today, and it is IMPERATIVE that you do not attack him, because you will lose your life and unfortunately I am powerless to stop that." Artemis told her hunters after she'd gathered them all. They all shared hushed whispers at their mistresses' words. There was someone strong enough that Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt totally powerless against? That had to be some kind of mistake.

"How many of you remember Percy Jackson?" She asked, looking around from face to face. Thalia had already been told the short version of what had happened and it had shaken her up like a violent tempest raging within.

If Artemis could use their memory of the boy they once knew as a starting point, then perhaps she would succeed in getting none of them to attack him. "Yes ma'am, he was the one with the quest where Zoe had fought against her father, Atlas." Atalanta, an older girl, daughter of Artemis' idiot brother Apollo. Atalanta was easily the most level headed hunter Artemis had ever had, alongside Thalia that is who had joined the hunt to avoid being the child of prophecy, instead pushing Percy into that position.

"Yes well, he is no longer that demi-god we once knew. He has changed astronomically and while I know some of you may not like it, I have personally asked him to do me the favor of teaching you all for the next few days. He is to be treated with the utmost respect because of who he is, am I clear?" Artemis asked them. She needed to press on because it was very nearly ten o clock and she didn't take Percy for someone who would be late against his own word, not now anyway.

"And who exactly IS he?" Tania asked in an agitated tone. First she had to NOT kill Percy but second she had to take lessons from him? That was a step above and asking too much in her own eyes. Artemis could see that Tania would be a problem but she couldn't blame her, she WAS a daughter of Ares after all.

"Death." The sound of shadows whipping ferociously lasted for less than a second before Percy stood next to Artemis and Thalia. He looked taller than when she'd seen him last night. He didn't feel as cold, perhaps she was the one who was bringing him back from the brink of becoming nothing more than a personification, and actually the man who he'd been before his tremendous personal conflicts inside Hell. She didn't even know HOW he had come about getting the title of Death, but that was something that she was certain he wasn't going to tell her, not yet at least.

Tania had drawn her bow back with such extreme speed that it shocked even Artemis who was stuck in time trying desperately to break free and prevent the girl from being killed. The Goddess could do nothing but watch in what was quickly turning into hopelessness as Tania was ready to let her arrow loose at Percy.

Instantly Percy had moved in front of the hunter and placed a single finger against the propped arrow, stopping it from being released. "Shoot me and I will personally put you in the void. I will erase any trace of your existence. Do you understand?" He asked her neutrally. He wasn't being malicious but at the same time the Goddess knew that the only reason he hadn't destroyed her soul then and there was because of Artemis. She'd asked him to HELP her hunters not hurt them.

"Y-yes!" Nobody could see what Tania was seeing, but Percy had caused an overwhelming pressure to envelope him, it almost caused the gravity around them to crush everything but he had it under control and before long it had seemed like nothing more than a simple illusion.

"Lady Artemis, do they know why I am here?" He asked, turning is gaze towards the silver Goddess who had finally been freed from her temporary prison, being frozen to the spot. It had been unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Had HE immobilized her on purpose, possibly without even thinking about it. How much power did he have at his finger tips?

"They do, and thank you for not throwing any of my hunters into space, I appreciate it." Artemis told him quietly. Only Thalia heard but it was enough for her to crack a laugh. That seemed to have caught Percy's attention.

"Oh hello Tha... What was that name? Thals. There we go. Sorry, I'm having a few problems recovering my memories before Tartarus." He gave her a sad smile. Thalia felt like crying, even after all of that time during the torture, even after becoming Death he had at least tried to remember her nick name. He might have been someone powerful enough to reap Gods but he was still her cousin and one of her closest friends.

"Hello Seaweed brain. Gods I need a new nickname for you now. How about Lazy Bones, get it?" She grinned from ear to ear, glad to have finally found him once again.

Percy smiled, "That's terrible." He added on top of it but the smile had never left his face. It was the first time that Artemis had seen any kind of warmth and mirth emanating from his eyes. She could have sworn that she'd also seen the smallest glint of emeralds when she looked at him.

"I'll come up with something better in time, now, you've got a lesson to teach." She told him, after giving him a quick hug that nobody could argue against, she pushed him back towards the others.

"OK, your first lesson is self taught. I need a volunteer to go first." He told them, looking around to see if anyone was brave enough to be the first to attempt his lesson. Thalia shrugged before coming back into his eyesight. She might as well be the first, she had to lead by example anyway.

"OK. Try your hardest to kill me, and I shall point out each and every flaw that you have. Once I'm satisfied with your skill level, that shall be the end of the lesson. There won't be any rest between now and when you finish your training. This could be a matter of hours or up to a week, maybe even two. Begin when you're ready." Thalia's eyes widened as she sent a gaze towards Artemis who offered her nothing more than a shrug in support.

The training was rigorous, Thalia felt like a deadweight after the sixth hour of constant fighting. Artemis had been sat cross legged underneath the shad of a tree, watching intensely for the entire time. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Thalia had gained a huge margin of skill in the short time that Percy had been training with her. And to think, he'd promised to do this for each and every girl in the hunt. Artemis was truly blessed to have been able to make a friend out of that man.

Artemis watched, she studied the man she once knew. So far he hadn't actually made any attacks at Thalia, he'd just been dodging all of hers with complete accuracy and efficiency. He'd not needed to use much focus to avoid getting hit by Thalia either, she was simply put, not in his league of power. Artemis decided that Percy wasn't going to be able to showcase any of his real power, not on the hunters at least, so she retired to her quarters.

In the end, Percy had decided against beasting Thalia without rest, she was only a demi-god after all and despite being an immortal huntress, she still had to rest, plus he held a soft spot for her considering how close they had been before. He'd promised to train for eight hours a day with whomever he was currently tutoring, and so when he had finally decided to let Thalia rest overnight, he had explained how he was going to do things before he'd disappeared from the camp with only a click of his fingers.

 **Line Break. So, you liking it?**

The moon shone bright upon the campsite, the time striking around two o clock. Artemis was in her tent, staring down at some plans she'd thrown onto her planning table. The idea was to try and find a fresh hunt for all of the girls who weren't currently going to be training with Percy.

She'd been deep in thought when she heard the rustle of leaves and shadows whipping at the air for a second before looking up to find Percy standing there looking down at her with a strange glint in his eye. Strangely he wasn't in his suit but rather some leather hunting trousers, dirty brown boots and a vest that clung tightly to his body. Even through the clothes Artemis could see how incredibly tight and defined his muscles were. That was definitely something that the old Percy didn't quite have. Funnily enough, she didn't mind that part of the new Percy, that could stay around for a while. She also had no idea what was making her have those kinds of thoughts, as that wasn't the first time since he'd been back.

The first time that sort of thing had entered her mind was in New Rome when he'd stood up against the entire legion of behalf of the Greeks. The sheer confidence that he had was astounding, though, now she knew why. Never would the Romans ever have been able to hurt him, let alone kill him.

"Percy? You should learn to knock, I could have been naked." Artemis told him, Percy could see that she was visibly annoyed with this act of apparent privacy intrusion, though she must have been remaining calm because of the fact that she would have to blow up half of the world in order to hurt him, or come close to it.

Percy grinned slightly, "Well, I can come back in a few minutes if you're still planning on getting naked?" His eyes were locked with hers, challenging her on every level. They both remained silent for a moment. The air was filled with tension and something else, like an unseen battle between fire and ice.

"What do you want?" Artemis asked, finally breaking what was to her a near unbearable silence. She didn't mind staring into his eyes though. It was like watching a personal progress, HER personal progress towards restoring the old Percy. The first time she'd seen them there were cold and emotionless, the darkest shade of black she'd ever seen, but now, it looked as though his old beautiful shade of green was trying its hardest to burst free of their blackened cage.

"To fight." He told her without so much as a single hint of sarcasm. He had come to her at the dead of night to fight with her.

"Why?" She asked, stepping way from her table and instead, giving Percy her full focus. He had actually come here just to fight with her, at it confused her to no end.

"Because you are very powerful and will give me a chance to stretch and have a bit of fun. Come on, you can't turn around and lie to my face about wanting to test MY capabilities." He said, grinning the whole time. Artemis glared at him and his smug grin. She hated the fact that he was entirely right.

"And what, you wish to just spar right here in the middle of my camp? My hunters could be hurt." Artemis told him, hands on her hips, her sass making an appearance for the first time in a while.

"I can cast a protective barrier over each and every one of them. So what about it? Will the fiery Goddess Artemis take on Death in a fair and friendly battle? I'd even go so far as to make a wager." He was really starting to get a kick out of this. She found herself wondering out of everyone and everything, why was he coming to her with this? She was by no means the strongest God so surely if he truly wanted to test his own strength then he should be winding up Zeus instead of proposing a fight to her.

"What is it that you would wager?" She asked him cautiously. Percy stood there, focusing for a moment of what it was that he could possibly have that would interest her. It had taken a long moment of thought before he finally came up with something, and it was definitely in her interests.

"I have a very special weapon in my personal arsenal. It is a bow that is capable of trapping Demons within a psycho-kinetic barrier as strong as the willpower of the bow's wielder." Artemis' eyes were the thing that alerted Percy to the fact that she was interested. A bow with that kind of power was indeed a very rare and no doubt unique weapon, and now she greatly wanted it. Though she'd never faced a Demon before, but with Percy being around her camp recently, she could never be too prepared for what trouble was no doubt going to follow.

"OK, but what could you possibly want from me, and how exactly do I win this wager? I'm not entirely sure I could even kill you." She told him outright with a sigh. She knew that he was no doubt going to be hard work at some point in his life what with being a son of Poseidon, but she never expected THIS, which, in fairness, nobody had.

"Hmm, I'm guessing you wouldn't be too happy about the idea of a date." He chuckled slightly earning what sounded like a very low pitched growl emanating from Artemis' throat.

"That's not funny." She told him with a lethal glare.

"I laughed." He muttered under his breath as happy as ever. "No, I shall think of something, truthfully the wager was more to incline you towards actually accepting my request of a fight. If I win, I'll decide on something later, and I promise it will be sensible." He told her with a genuine smile.

She wasn't sure whether it had come along with all of the other changes or if it had manifested when his power had, but Percy Jackson had all of the confidence in the world. Thankfully he also had sense otherwise, much like most of her family, Percy may have ended up going around creating little Percy's. The thought horrified her. An army of miniature grim reapers inhabiting the mortal world because of Percy's somewhat natural charm.

"Fine, I will fight you. I see no point in wasting time, let's go." She clicked her fingers, flashing to the center of her camp. Percy grinned, finally, a real fight.

 **Line Break. If something seems out of place, it's probably by design.**

Artemis had her prey in her sights but for the first time in her immortal life she had absolutely no idea how to go about taking it down. This was by far the hardest thing she ever had to do, and the worst part was that this was, from the very beginning, only going to be a friendly fight. She'd agreed to his proposal on the ground that, like he'd already pointed out, she was desperate to see how strong he was, and he just really wanted to have a care free fight with someone strong enough to make him actually need to move around for it.

After having already seen the extent of Apollo's, and similarly her own, Godly bow against Percy, she'd opted with pulling out two beautiful hunting knives, both the shape of crescent moons with an equally stunning silver glow about them. She held them with a perfect stance. Percy knew that this was going to be a good fight.

So it was to be a fight starting from close quarters combat. He could deal with that, heck, he enjoyed the thought of getting up close and personal, though that thought seemed to extend to something else which he just absolutely could not do, not with Artemis of all people, despite how much the thought enticed him.

With a moment of equal appreciation for each other as opponents, Percy pulled his hand across the air in front of him, a ripple in reality soon formed but disappeared just as quickly yet in it's strangely mesmerizing wake, it left a knife the same size as the ones in Artemis' hands, yet he only held one. It appeared to be a standard knife but all things considered, Percy wasn't about to use a God killer in a friendly fight.

"We fight until one of us forfeits." Artemis announced with a gleeful glint in her eyes. Truthfully, she was going to enjoy this, a lot. Percy noticed this and raised an eyebrow but said nothing. After all, it was his exact reason for asking her in the first place. Thalia came strolling out of her tent with a yawn at the exact moment that Artemis and Percy both struck out, the force of three blades coming together with godlike forces behind them either side was enough to send out a small shock wave.

Thalia was nearly thrown to her feet, "What the fu-LADY ARTEMIS!" Thalia's emotions went through some interesting stages from anger and confusion to protectiveness and incredulity. Why in Hades were Artemis and Percy knife fighting!?

"It's OK Thalia, this is a friendly spar, warn any other girls that wake up." Artemis shot back at her lieutenant before returning her focus on fighting the so far insurmountable stopping force in front of her. Percy's expression hadn't changed from bemused after their knives had clashed.

Artemis went in for another strike with one blade trailing slightly after the other. Percy swatted her first hand away and blocked the second with his own knife, aware of the first hand that was making it's way towards him yet again. He quickly spun around and pressed his back against her body, grabbing a wrist and holding on to it whilst swatting away another. He hooked a heel around one of her own before violently pushing forwards. Artemis was thrown clear over his body and into the tree line before he dashed right after her. This was definitely a fight that he was going to enjoy far more than teaching the hunters.

Artemis was surprised, he wasn't even using godlike strength, just that of his current form, proving that Percy was, in retrospect to all of the other demi-gods, a supernatural among them. "Perseus I must admit, you're starting to impress me." Artemis muttered, recovering quickly considering she'd just been thrown into a tree with enough force to cause half of the roots to penetrate the surface.

"Lady Artemis I must admit, you've always impressed me." He told her seriously as he continued to advance towards her, both of them brandishing their knives and ready for the next round of combat. Artemis swore to herself that she wouldn't be caught off guard like that again, and really it was all her fault that she was. She just... Couldn't help trying to find the small traces of green that swam around his blackened iris'. They were like beacons of hope that she desperately wished weren't figments of her imagination, because in her own eyes that could mean only one thing.

"Except for the part where you refuse to refer to me as Death, but I can deal with that. Mother didn't raise a whiny little boy... In fairness, she didn't raise what I've turned into but she was a good mother, I made sure she went to the right place." He smiled softly. This caught Artemis off guard for the second time in the fight.

She knew quite a bit about Percy from their years of strange occurrence where their paths would cross. She knew that Percy's mother could not have died of old age, and knowing Poseidon, he would simply not allow for her to have died in a mortal accident of any kind. There must have been foul play at hand.

As if noticing what Artemis' mind was working away at, Percy spoke up about it, "I'm tracking the killer down right now, don't worry yourself about it." He informed her before spinning in a quick circle, launching a throwing knife at her. With a flick of her wrist, she diverted the throwing knife before countering with three of her own. Things were quickly escalating with the two of them, and it only became apparent to Artemis when she noticed the hunters all camped out following the two of them, keeping their distance but still watching.

The only other thing that showed how much they were upping their strength was the fact that whenever Percy moved, the ground seemed to be temporarily stuck in it's own personal gravity tunnel close to where his feet had landed. The tell tale sign that someone is suppressing incredible amounts of power.

Before Percy could unleash yet another attack with that annoying little knife, Artemis had chosen to up the game. She twirled her knives around so fast that they glowed before changing into something else. She held a shield and a short sword in her hands.

"Wow, that's a good look for you milady, you should go with it more often." Percy chuckled, aware that she was pretty much giving him the go ahead to continue rising with his power. Artemis grinned, seeing the thrill of the fight just as much as her opponent.

"I may be renowned as the hunter, but I am STILL a warrior Goddess and know my way around sword and shield just as much as a knife and a bow, you would do well not to take me lightly." Even though her words were harsh, her tone was anything but, and Percy could physically see how much she was enjoying this.

"Well, I guess it's my turn." Percy's once lopsided signature grin was no more a thing of the present, she'd not seen it once since he'd been back, but there was a replacement and oh Gods she actually liked that blasted thing. Percy grinned, one side of his lips raising just enough to reveal a toothy canine that stuck out above the rest. His grin was animalistic and had a slight tinge of demonic to it, but not the bad kind, just a neutral figure of pure destructive power. She had NO idea why this was all hitting her at once. She had a damn oath to uphold, plus, she hated most men. Actually all of them apart from him.

Percy span his own knife around before throwing it into the dirt by his feet. Once again he swiped his hand across the air in front of him, only this time he retrieved a much larger blade than the knife he'd originally summoned. She had a shield and a short sword, he had pulled out a brilliant ornate katana with a sky blue hilt and a black blade that she struggled to see in the darkness surrounding them. She was in real trouble if he decided to attack with his true speed, especially as that particular blade looked strong enough to slice and dice through her body like a soul reaping blade through ichor.

She decided that no matter how long this battle really was, unless she did something drastic then the end result would be the same. She moved forwards with speed that, despite it being Artemis, still surprised Percy though he hid it well. She slammed her shield into the hand he had control over the katana with, causing it to be pushed away before she spun and slammed her heel into the side of his leg and kicked out at the sword, sending it shooting out of his grasp. It embedded itself into a thick tree with a loud thud.

He was aware of what she was trying to do though, and decided that giving up the blade would give him an advantage if he could pull it off with enough speed. He'd clasped both hands around her before she'd flipped him over her body like he'd done to her at the start of the fight. She'd gone tumbling down with him. Both of them landing in a head a few meters from where she'd tried to throw him from. He had a knee pinning her shield down and was using the palms of his hands to slap her blade away every time it came near him.

He realized that without some form of metal he couldn't keep up his defence against her unrelenting attacks for long. He rolled backwards and summoned his trump card. By the time he was back on his feet he had a beautiful white bow in his hands, drawn back and aimed at her. To his utmost shock, she had done that exact same thing, except she looked far more ready to shoot than he was. The confusing thing was that neither her sword nor shield were any longer in sight. She wasn't just good, she was fantastic, and the best fight he'd ever had in his life.

"All out Artemis, don't let me down this far!" Percy shouted with sheer joy as they both released their bow strings. In the distance, Thalia and Atalanta were perched in a tree, watching the two tremendous forces go at it.

They were both incredibly in tune with their mistress, and Thalia knew the old Percy better than anyone, and though this new Percy was somewhat of a far cry from the old, that was mostly just on the surface. At his core, he was still Percy Jackson, even if he was now Death. Though, Thalia had her suspicions about it, his current form didn't seem like that of a God killer, it was more angelic with the way that he'd spoken to them and even agreed to train them, but that was just her suspicions.

"He's loving this." Atalanta actually smiled. It was nice to see someone like him finally able to smile after what she could only assume was years upon years of things that would have broken lesser men, but perhaps all of that pain was just skillfully hidden away from prying eyes.

More and more explosions went off, not even seconds apart from one another as the two kept firing arrow after arrow, only a few loose arrows managing to hit their surroundings as most were colliding with one another. "Yes, but so is she. Look closely Atalanta as I suspect that only you and I have quick enough reflexes to see it, but they aren't even needing to aim at each other, they're both firing on instinct." Thalia told her, only becoming more certain of it with each passing moment.

"But... Then what are they looking at?" Atalanta asked, entirely confused. In fairness to her, she'd only been asleep for around half an hour before she was awoken by the sounds of The Goddess of the Hunt and Death having a knife fight, not something that would go down quietly in any sense of the concept.

Thalia considered the question for a moment before she figured it out, and she wasn't entirely sure how she should react to it. "Each other." She whispered just loud enough for Atalanta to hear it. None of the others needed to know that. It could have been nothing more than the thrill of the fight temporarily overcoming Artemis, but deep down Thalia knew that it could very well be something much more than that, and she didn't know how she was meant to react to that, but the thought of it actually made her want to smile.

Artemis was her sister and after Percy had been gone for the few months to them, Artemis had quickly become her best friend, and vice-versa. Atalanta just looked even more confused than before, "Yes but I don't see how that... Oh. OH." Atalanta just looked straight ahead, gears were working overdrive in her mind when she'd fully understood what Thalia had meant, and as she watched as intensely as the rest of the hunt, she saw it for herself.

"Thing about it, the two of them, having a 'friendly' fight. It's the two people in this world least likely to form attachments of a romantic kind after everything their lives have led them through. This fight can only be compared to passionate sex to them." Thalia pointed out. Atalanta's face scrunched up in disgust.

"I did NOT need that mental image Thalia." She actually looked like she was ready to pass out. The explosions stopped, the gusts of wind from the force of their arrows had no longer reached the hunters and there was nothing but silence as they anticipated what was going to happen next.

No one quite expected the moon to shine even brighter and for the sky to be lit up like a grand fireworks display that even Zeus could only dream of pulling off. "Hey girls." Apollo announced his arrival to the hunters. At this point none of them even bothered to shoot at him, they had all gotten bored after it'd had no effect on him. Quite respectfully he'd never come around for anything unless it was deadly important and it directly involved Artemis, so they kind of had a good deal with him. They all still hated his annoyances though, none more than Atalanta herself.

"What do you want?" The daughter of Apollo was the default voice of the hunt if Apollo himself was concerned and Artemis was busy. This counted as busy, and that was why Apollo had manifested his mortal form, he thought it only fair to explain what was happening in the sky above them.

"So, this little light show right here caused even Hades to get out of his dark little den and immediately appear in the throne room. Up in that unusually bright night sky is two immortals having a fist fight in their divine forms. They couldn't do that down here or they would have atomized everything within about one hundred miles." Apollo told them, never taking his eyes off of the battle above. To a God who was able to actually see the fight, it was truly something amazing. Only on incredibly rare occasions had Gods used their divine forms, and most of those weren't to fight.

"What does Percy's divine form look like?" Thalia asked her Godly brother. Apollo slowly took his sunglasses off and rubbed his eyes before turning towards Thalia who was still perched on a low hanging branch with Atalanta.

"Pray you never find out Thalia, because it is one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen in my immortal life." Apollo told them. As if all on cue, every hunters slowly turned to look at Apollo as if waiting for a terrible punchline. Their shock was evident when he just shrugged sadly.

"He IS Death, I don't know what you want me to tell you. I will say it right now and I'll say a thousand more times to get the point across. My sister is a much braver immortal than I. I'm not going anywhere near that skyline until I absolutely have to bring the sun up. So I have no idea how she's not only fighting against him with such determination but... She's actually happy, genuinely happy for the first time in a long time." Apollo sighed, being in a mortal form near the two fighting immortals was heavily taking it's toll and he needed to return to his throne to get his strength back.

"Thalia. They're both going to be exhausted, well, Percy not so much but still... Save your questions for another time after they've both recovered their energies. Goodbye Atalanta." Apollo bowed his head to her and her only. She was his daughter and he loved all of his children, he genuinely did, Atalanta was special though, she'd quickly become his favorite, though he'd never admit it. The sun God left the hunters camp without any further words, and it was a good thing that he did because right where he'd been standing, what felt like a meteor had struck the ground there, sending chunks of earth and dirt flying out in every direction. Luckily, no hunters had been anywhere near it, and no one was harmed.

As the smoke and dust cleared, everyone was granted a crystal clear view of what was inside the small crater. Percy's human body battered and torn with a huge smile of content plastered across his face, the shocking part was that Artemis had him straddled at the waist, her own body had a fair few marks on it. They were both struggling with rugged breathe by the sounds of it. They'd had one Hades of a fight, starting out with knife then swords, bows and finally a divine fist fight.

"Satisfied?" Artemis asked him with a raised eyebrow. Percy just continued to smile at her before he answered with with his own signature grin.

He looked right into her eyes with a stare of steel, his half black iris' had been infiltrated half way through the fight, only to have been brought to life with blazes of emerald brighter than the sea itself. It had caught her off guard but not by much, she'd been waiting for it to happen since they'd met. There really was the old Percy hidden away somewhere in there, and she was bringing it back, as evident by his less than cold demeanor. He was actually acting like a person now.

"More than you realize." He grinned, still holding eye contact with her. They had shared a fairly sacred bond with each other during that fight. Neither of them had to worry about hurting anyone and they were finally able to let loose for once in their lives, something that Percy still wasn't able to do fully, but nether the less, Artemis had surpassed his power, or what little power remained in his body after the many seals that he'd placed on it. Even though it was a fraction of his power, it was still enough to challenge a Goddess and come very close to matching it, though that was something that she didn't need to know.

Artemis growled at his, letting loose one last punch because of his cheeky comment before she got up off of him and extended her hand to him. What was the point in having a fight like that if there was no sportsmanship to it.

"Thank you. You didn't disappoint me, Lady Artemis." Percy exit the crater with ease. His body started to physically heal within seconds right in front of their eyes. Artemis cocked her head to the side slightly.

"Percy I think we're past you needing a formal title. I am willing to openly acknowledge you as a friend, after all you ARE training each and every one of my hunters to be able to survive anything short of a God's wrath. Oh, and you also owe me a bow." Artemis grinned, waving a hand across her stomach. Her outfit repaired itself pretty quickly. She couldn't be in a man's presence with half of her body on the verge of being revealed. She expected at least one of her hunters to make some comments here and there but to her surprise, none did. She half expected them to be holding something away from her but decided not to pry. They'd all sworn themselves to her, so if they were not telling her anything, it was only for a good cause.

"That's true, I do, but I'm afraid I've used quite a lot of my power in our fight, so I can't pull it from the Soul Forge today, it will have to wait until the morning, and on that note I should add that mortals will no doubt come sniffing around because of our re-entry. We should make for camp Half-Blood and rest there until you girls decide on a direction for your next hunt." Percy proposed, he was happy to see that instead of arguments and arrow fire, they all just sort of nodded and voiced their agreements almost immediately. He shared a confused glance with Artemis for a moment but felt it best not to question.

That was their plan, they were going to camp Half-Blood to escape the mortals that would soon be on their way. Percy had no problems with it, he could train the girls and give Artemis the bow he'd promised her, as she had technically, and literally, come out on top in their fight. He had no idea that she was actively planning on confronting him about what he'd said. He'd used up most of his power, was that really all the power that Death held? She understood that it was still a LOT, but she just expected more. She also wanted to ask him about his divine form.

Especially the black wings.

 **A/N: I am SO f****** proud of this chapter! Give us a review for it? It's all of you guys that encourage and inspire me to write more! :D**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	3. Chapter 3 - Return to Camp

**Chapter 3 – Return To Camp, Unlikely Visitor**

The Hunt had been marching on throughout the night. At this point, they knew exactly how far they were from Camp Half-Blood and how long it would take them. They hadn't expected Percy to stay with them for the entire time though, but they didn't mind that much. They'd come to quite like him actually. Most of them were taken back with just how easily they'd come to accept Percy as an exception to their hatred towards men. For some it was easier than others, like Thalia for example, she was his cousin and close friends with him since day one. On the other hand though there were a few hunters who still weren't sure about him which was entirely understandable.

For most of the night, Percy had just hung back with Artemis, the two of them chatting and conversing for pretty much the entire trip. Artemis had brought up several very important things that he had avoided with an expert degree of tact and cunning, but Artemis wasn't going to give up that easily.

Dawn was on the verge of rising but they were now only a few miles away from the barrier surrounding the camp, a sure sign that they had finally made it to their destination, leaving the carnage of their previous campsite in the past and as no more than a mere memory of the time they witnessed what had quickly become spread around the immortal world as a rather legendary fight. It had only been six hours since but Apollo worked fast.

"When was the last time that you were here?" Artemis asked Percy quietly, knowing very briefly of what had happened to the son of Poseidon. Every time she'd heard of it, she had almost boiled to the brim with anger at the daughter of Athena. Out of everyone that it could have happened to, it had to be him. He seemed to be over it though, but then, after his time in Tartarus he was going to get over everything from his past life.

"The last time I was here was the day that Annabeth dumped me. I went on an 'adventure' that almost caused me to die, then I was taken to Camp Jupiter." He explained casually. There was absolutely no remorse in his voice, so Artemis was right, he was completely over it despite it only having been a few months to the rest of them.

If Annabeth hadn't been so quick to move on, then maybe Percy would have been seen as the heartless one out of the two of them. As they neared the camp, Percy had gradually begun to adopt a faint glow around him. Was the healing process really that thorough?

He stopped without explaining anything to them. Artemis waved the girls on as she watched the Reaper. "You know what? I'll do this in the camp, less chance of me breaking the forge." He muttered with a smile before looking at Artemis and continuing to walk. She was just as confused as before. Soon enough, if he kept doing these strange things, she'd start getting headaches from all of his totally random antics.

The girls had finally reached the barrier and were filing in one by one, each of them were widely avoiding the not so small draconic body belonging to Peleus. Thalia, as tradition every time she came to the camp, always walked up to Peleus, one of the VERY FEW people that he would allow to come close. She'd always thank him for looking after her tree and plant a small kiss on the very end of his long snout. The dragon always let loose jets of steam afterwards, a small sign of continued appreciation.

A familiar looking centaur cantered towards them. Chiron, another one of the few exceptions that the girls didn't mind, probably because of the way that he looked after all of the children equally. He saw them all as HIS children during the time when the Gods held no particular love for their offspring. When that all changed, he just carried on loving the campers as his own. He'd been a good mentor for Percy in his earlier life.

Needless to say, his jaw dropped when he saw the return of Percy Jackson standing by Artemis' side. Something he never thought would happen, but here they were, and there was a LOT of explaining the son of Poseidon needed to do, not to mention some critical things that Chiron needed to inform Percy of before they went any further, and the Gods knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

 **Line Break. So this is where I do that thing where I prove I'm a semi-decent writer.**

He sat in his cabin, feet being lapped at gently by the soft waves that flowed beautifully underneath. Some days he really loved being a son of Poseidon, especially when he was able to experience beautiful days like this with the calm serenity of the water on one side, and his beautiful girlfriend on the other.

"Jude." She said, getting his attention at last. He didn't know how many times she'd called him name, but he hadn't been listening, instead choosing to gaze at the blue depths underneath his cabin. The girl with the stormy grey eyes and long blonde curls was giving him a steely gaze. Something had upset her, and she was trying to get his attention. Jude's own eyes were rather unremarkable, not following the family theme, instead having deep earthy brown iris' and a short mess of black hair, only a few shades lighter than Percy's.

"Sorry, what was that Annabeth?" He asked her, tearing his eyes away from the water and instead turning his body to face her. She'd been through a lot recently. Guilt had torn away at her, bit by bit after she'd broken up with Jude's older brother, Percy.

There were some days that he really hated being a son of Poseidon, like EVERY time that his brother was mentioned, it was like Jude was long forgotten. Percy WAS a hero, he was never going to deny him that, but there was also a very ugly jealously that brewed in his stomach every single time he was forced to listen about how great this brother of his was. He'd never even met him before. Jude turned up to camp by it's every own shoreline, a sure sign of who he was. It was only proven hours later when he'd effortlessly brought a sizable wave ashore as a joke on an Apollo child.

"I said, it's your brother, he's been found." She never met his gaze, instead gluing her eyes to the wooden boards that made the floor. How could she? She'd left Percy, and thinking that it was her fault he'd gone missing. After a few months of him not returning, she'd immediately found herself another son of Poseidon. After the Gods had found out what had happened, they had cut off their immediate communications with the camp, all save for Dionysus who flat out refused to even acknowledge Annabeth at all.

"Oh really, where was he?" Jude asked as casually as anyone could in that situation. The Hero of Olympus had returned after supposedly being missing, or that was how Annabeth had made it sound.

"Here. He appeared for the first time since he'd gone missing, side by side with Artemis and her hunters. I don't... I have no idea what to do." Annabeth admitted, the slightest tear drop started to form in her stormy grey eyes. The younger son of Poseidon wasn't any better off, he'd never even met his brother but he already knew that his own jealously would never allow him to see Percy as a brother, but more of a rival, and knowing that he was dating Percy's ex-girlfriend, only made it that much worse.

"Well." He said, getting to his feet at last. "I think it's time to go and say hello to my brother." He made his greatest effort to put on a genuine smile. He wasn't a truly malicious person after all, he just knew that the two of them would never be that close. What was he doing returning to the camp after this much time had passed anyway? If he didn't have any intentions of returning, then why bother just because those hunters had decided to stop by? Of course, Jude didn't actually know the situation Percy was in, so he found it best not to jump to too many decisions too quickly. He wondered if their father knew. Jude never had that much luck with speaking to Poseidon, but he supposed that the sea God would at least grant Percy a single visit after disappearing, given that he was the Hero of Olympus and all of that.

Annaebeth was about to argue with her boyfriend but found that he was far too quick for her. He'd put some sandals on and thrown a quick flower print shirt loosely over his body. He'd just hit eighteen, and took extreme pride in his physical training efforts, and as such, he liked to show off his hard work, and never buttoned his shirt up, instead revealing the muscles underneath, knowing what the hunters were against however, he decided to make an exception, just this once.

As Jude approached the crowd of campers all circling the two hotshots that had entered the camp, he noticed that rapidly changing expressions written across the older campers. It was the first time since he'd got there that he'd ever seen Clarisse actually go pale. Her eyes darted between Jude and Percy before she instinctively backed up a few feet from the crowd. He noticed that all of the older campers had a like minded reaction to Clarisse and had moved themselves a safe distance away. Who were they fearful of, the prodigy son of Poseidon, or HIM, the Legend. Jude was good, but Percy was... Percy.

Jude had finally gotten to the front, and then he saw it, the scene that had confused so many campers. Percy Jackson, in the flesh. He was taller than Jude expected, and just as tan as himself. With long raven hair and eyes that threatened a painful end, the color of night except they never seemed to stay with one solid color, they were continuously shifting between black and then ocean green, as vibrant as freshly cut emeralds. There was no doubt in his mind that this was his brother, but something seemed out of place.

In the recent weeks, Jude had begun to be able to sense demi-gods and immortals especially, but as he looked at his brother, he felt.. Nothing, absolutely nothing, it was like staring into an empty hallway of complete darkness. Percy seemed to notice Jude among the crowd, a confused expressions sat across his face for a few seconds before he broke out into a warm smile and walked towards him.

"That's odd, I didn't know Poseidon had any other children. Hello, my name is-" Before Percy got a chance to finish, Jude interrupted him. Annabeth had finally caught up, with her hands wrapped around Jude's arm. That was seemingly completely overlooked by Percy, but Annabeth thought that given how she'd treated him before they broke up, that he probably simply didn't care for her anymore.

"You're Percy Jackson, I know who you are. You're a legend around here, something that I can never seem to surpass no matter how hard I try." Jude told him quietly, not letting Percy's height become something to intimidate. He was starting to think that because he could feel nothing from his brother, that he could actually defeat him. Would that then make him a greater hero than the famous Percy Jackson?

"That was who I used to be, but not anymore." Percy's face had quickly reverted to a state of emotionless glances. He had very quickly been pushed back into Death, and after Artemis had tried so hard to pull him back to Percy.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked him, trying her hardest to make herself heard in this discussion. Unfortunately for her, this was a talk between two rather powerful sons of the sea, so she, a daughter of Athena, didn't have much a chance here. This was when Percy first noticed her even being there and saw her hanging off of Jude. He didn't really care, not after everything he'd been through. He'd gotten over her very quickly after the tortures in Tartarus had begun.

Artemis stepped forwards, deciding to answer on Percy's behalf to stop him from wasting his breath on the silly little daughter of Athena. Thalia had very wisely chosen to stay neutral and silently watched the exchange. She didn't want Annabeth to feel betrayed by her actions, but she was completely and utterly on Percy's side in this.

"He's no longer a demi-god. Perseus Jackson is with the Gods." Artemis explained, causing a lot of hushed whispers to start emanating around them. All of the older campers that knew Percy personally had stayed completely silent, eager to hear the entire truth.

"Is that true, you're a God?" Chiron asked, his hooves jittered uneasily. That was no doubt going to stir up a LOT of trouble. Percy Jackson, no longer able to fight for Olympus due to him being a part of it himself.

Percy just stood there for a second. WAS he a God? No, not quite, he was something different, and far more powerful than any God they knew. "No. Something else. Just as strong as a God though, if that fight was anything to judge by." Percy grinned, the first show of emotion since he'd gotten to the camp. Artemis couldn't see it, but she knew it was there, than animalistic toothy grin that he only seemed to do for her.

Thalia sighed, seeing all of the clueless idiots around them looking for answers. "Percy and Lady Artemis had a friendly fight last night that ended with them both in their divine forms punching each other."

And just like he'd thought, Jude was hidden by Percy's shadow, the worst part was that Percy clearly wasn't interested in lording his glory over anyone. So he'd gotten powerful enough to take on a God at their best and he was still alive and in perfect shape. He was at a point that Jude could never get to, and the truth was bitter. The jealously that originally started in his stomach was now itching underneath his skin. He couldn't do it, not with Percy staying at the camp, he HAD to leave. Plus, he was no longer even a demi-god, according to what he was claiming.

"Who won?" Malcolm piped up with a huge grin plastered across his face. Annabeth quickly went over and elbowed him, telling him to hush up. Neither of them were people you wanted to anger if you wanted to live.

"I did." Artemis announced proudly. Percy's head dived in mock shame. Artemis quickly put her mouth to his ear. Hushed murmurs surrounded everyone. "You owe me a bow, Death." She grinned, whispering quietly so that only he could hear her. It admittedly did make him laugh a little bit.

"So I do." He retorted with a smile before raising his hand. His entire forearm started glowing with a furious red energy before he literally struck through reality and pulled a bow out from the rift he'd cause before sealing it away once more. "As promised." He began before flicking the bow in a strange motion. The bow opened up to reveal a rather large black bow that seemed to ooze shadows from it's string. "It has the capability to trap Demons. Not so useful for finishing them off, but good enough if you wish to interrogate the bastards." He said, personally handing Artemis the bow. She looked at it's pure magnificence.

It was a very dark weapon with a dark nature to match but it had the capabilities to be used for good, and now that it was in her hands, it could only be used for good as it was a unique bow according to Percy. He'd mentioned retrieving it from what he called the Soul Forge, perhaps that was where he tended to rest his true form, or maybe that was where he used his power to play around in Hephaestus' area of expertise.

A pang of rogue energy struck the sky, it wasn't huge, but enough so that Percy noticed it immediately and so did Artemis. "What's that? I've never felt anything like it." Artemis announced, uncaring of who was paying attention. The two divine beings were stood side by side, staring at something as it crossed the sky.

"A pain in my ass." Percy muttered under his breath. So she was returning after all, even after she'd vowed to never appear to him again. She was truly walking on thin ice, and he suspected that she knew full well how dangerous her chosen path was, especially if she'd come to try and bind him once again.

"Percy?" A small voice called out, a little girl tugged at his leg. He recognized her though he didn't know where from. She was a hunter, one of Artemis' girls, and though he hadn't spoken to her, he was made aware of what situation she'd been in before joining the hunt, so he really had no idea why she was being so bold as to tug at his legs and speak to him in front of the entire camp.

He kneeled down so that she could speak her mind without having to look all the way up. It was small gestures that he kept doing, things that Artemis couldn't help but notice, he was genuinely interested in what everyone had to say. It was heart warming to see someone so caring, especially towards her hunters. Maybe HE was the one that they had all been waiting for, someone to come along and change their perspectives, to prove that there were still decent people out there.

"Percy, are you an Angel?" She asked quietly. Percy laughed for a second before he gave her his focus once again. She looked at him with eyes the color of a tempest of grey, it was then that he noticed that she was basically an identical version of his ex-girlfriend who stood behind the little girl.

"You're a smart girl, don't ever let anyone tell you any different. I am a very special kind of Angel, yes." Percy admitted. There it was, he'd told someone. Artemis didn't need it in writing, she'd been fighting with him while he was in his true form just last night, and it was both awe inspiring and fear inducing at the same time. It was him but his face was hidden by a delicate purple hood, shrouded by shadows completely. His true form stayed very true to the one that everyone could see at that moment with the small exception that his skin was very pale, his hands held rings from every era, a small collection of trophies to prove his presence in each and every civilization.

The most outstanding thing about Death was by far the wings. They were as fascinating as they were beautiful. They had become visible to her while they were rising into the night sky, Percy had changed into a different form, one that she expected was a toned down version of his true divine form, something that he expected the demi-gods could see without being atomized. His skin wasn't pale and he looked pretty much the same as normal except for the addition of his wings, a huge pair of midnight black wings. The difference between that and his true form was mostly the wings, they held no feather and were comprised solely of bones. It was Death after all.

"If you're an Angel, then where are your wings?" Jude pointed out with a smug smirk. Artemis so badly wanted to deck this kid. She could practically feel the envy irradiating around him. It was like a thick cloud of poison. Was she being protective over Percy? A sudden thought had breached her mind and caused her to adopt wide eyes and a viscous blush.

"Listen kid, if you ever saw my wings, I'd probably end up either saving your life or taking it myself... Pretty much no middle ground there." He shrugged for a moment before ignoring the campers and walking towards the shoreline. He knew he'd sensed that unique energy shooting across the sky just in front of the camp so she had to know that he was there. Jude watching through an intense glare at his older brother who had effectively stolen the show without so much as lifting a finger, and after all of his own achievements, did they mean nothing now!?

Artemis was the only one brave enough to approach the man hailed as Death, "What's out there Percy?" She was quiet, not wanting to scare the other campers. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to make Percy become serious all of a sudden.

"A Sin." He announced before taking a single step forwards, after a moment of what seemed like time traveling at it's slowest, Percy's feet had left the ground and he was gently rising towards the ceiling of the barrier with his hands in his pockets, looking as casual as ever considering that he was assumedly rising to meet a threat to the campers. Once he'd gotten high enough, he found that he could walk along the surface of the barrier without the need of his wings, which was good because using his wings while he was like this was incredibly taxing and difficult due to them no natively being connected to him.

"Uriel!" He called out, causing the Angel to appear in front of him, she too had her feet on the barrier. Uriel was almost as tall as he was with skin just as tan except she had multiple tattoos around her body, all in a language that had basically become second nature to Percy because of his role. Her eyes were the brightest white that Percy had ever seen, but that was just something that he'd gotten used to over the time he'd spent with her which was admittedly few and far between.

"Death." She nodded slightly, acknowledging him as he truly was, that was the first time in the past week that he'd been called correctly as such. She seemed to be looking him from head to toe briefly before decided that nothing had really changed. Uriel was the one person in over a hundred years that he'd opened up to, but she'd rejected him after everything he'd gone through for her. He didn't hold it against her, after all, who could love a monster like him? She'd not known him as Death nor as the son of Poseidon, but as the man that had fought through Tartarus and Hell combined, slaying everything in his path and effectively taking over as the head honcho, the Demon King of Hell. It was a forbidden thing, for a Demon to love an Angel and vice versa, which was why she could never have accepted him. How she wished that she'd had trusted his words when he'd promised her that he wasn't a Demon, but that time was decades gone now.

"You're following me, just what is it that you want? Oh, and if you ever try to bind me again I WILL kill you, I don't care if we have history." He warned her, the darkness in his eyes told her that there were no lies hidden in his words, just the solid truth. She'd wronged him once before, and it was going to stay at ONCE.

"You're at the very center of an upcoming war, and yet you refuse to acknowledge it. Your fool hardy belief that you can protect them will be your downfall." Uriel hissed at him, which he really hadn't taken kindly too. Everyone below the barrier was watching intently, only Artemis was able to hear what was going on though, and she wasn't too happy to hear about their 'history' but honestly, it wasn't even her business. What business DID she have with males anyway? None considering her sacred oath... But there was something about Percy that she simply couldn't shake.

Was Aphrodite playing tricks on her again while she'd been distracted by the man in question? If that wasn't the case, and the situation didn't resolve itself quickly, then she was in for a VERY bad path that would clearly spiral out of control. He was Death after all.

Above the barrier, Percy had seemingly taken Uriel's insult personally, he lazily extended his arm towards her, holding his hand like a cage before she screamed in pain, absolutely agonizing pain. "Remember who you're talking to, or it will be your own foolish pride that will be your downfall, after all, you ARE the Lion's Sin aren't you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, releasing her from his hold. He was allowing her one last chance to live after their exchange had ended, but only because of what he once saw for her. She truly had been a brilliant friend to him when he needed her, but he didn't want a friend at the time.

"You figured that out fast, didn't you. What, Uriel not looking at you the same way as before?" The Angel hissed once again. Percy managed to muffle his laugh slightly as he gazed back at her, thinking about how he could destroy the seal inside her body without hurting her. Was it the same seal that he'd cast out from his own body not long ago? Surely they couldn't have found it so soon and embedded it in a host already?

"Leave this place and never return to it or near me or I WILL strike you down regardless of once being my friend. And warn the other Sins that I hold no love for them or those wretched seals that you've somehow found. Just because I made them out of free will doesn't mean I won't happily destroy them just as soon." Percy's speech was over, he held out his hand once again but Uriel was gone and very far away from the camp.

Percy sighed, knowing that nothing was ever going to be easy, He'd been doing this for a while now and finally after getting everything in order, someone had come along, stolen his seals of power and put them in other people. Unknown to Death, Artemis had been listening, and he'd just willing given away the fact that he'd sealed away most of his power. With a snap of his fingers he reappeared right in the middle of everyone once again.

"OK, I-" Smack, Artemis' fist connected cleanly with his jaw, sending the reaper flying through the ground for nearly thirty meters, leaving a Percy sized ditch almost all the way back down to the shore from where they were standing.

"Round two." Thalia sighed before ignoring the immortals and making her way towards the Artemis cabin where the girls had always stayed. Atalanta wasn't far behind her, and the other girls noticing that Artemis' wasn't about to issue any orders and Thalia had already retreated to the cabin decided that after seeing the end result of last night's fight, they would join Thalia and get a head start on relaxing.

"Can't any of you do anything about her?" Chiron discretely asked Phoebe, another older hunter who at this point was still entirely indifferent to Percy. She shrugged for a moment before Death's body was thrown towards the big house, crashing through the attic. Luckily it was empty, it'd been changed for an entirely clean attack. The old Oracle had been removed, or rather it had been buried. Rachel Dare acted as the new Oracle these days, and she out right refused to live in that dingy attic.

"How dare you lie to me about your power!" Artemis shouted, enraged that anyone would have the audacity to even think about deceiving a Goddess like her about something like that. There was a huge flash of light from within the attic of the big house before Percy appeared just behind the hole that his body had made. He stretched his arms out as if there was something heavy attached to his back. It was only then that Artemis realized there actually was. With a single push of his palm against the wood, the entire wall had exploded into splinters, revealing Percy standing there, the light was coming from his body, casting a shadow of two large wings.

Artemis couldn't help but stare, even from this distance. So he DID have wings, they were just hidden away while he was like this. "Great, now he's got even more to lord over me." Jude was practically boiling with envy at this point.

"Come on Annabeth, let's leave these two angsty teens to fight it out." Jude announced loudly, turning his back on the stunned Artemis. This little demi-god had just openly insulted not only her but Percy, who moments later had caused immense pain to an Angel with just the flick of his wrist.

Jude quickly found himself face first in Percy's chest. "First of all, I'm not a teenager. I was twenty when you got here, then I spent one hundred and fifty two years tortured in Tartarus through the eye of a time vortex, then another seven years trying to find my way out of said vortex. I'm am far older and FAR more powerful than you in every way, so think twice before you insult my friends." Percy told him. The stones around him started to rise of their own accord. There it was again, the semblance of a personal gravity tunnel, centered on Percy.

It finally clicked to Artemis exactly what was going on, and it was just like she'd initially though. Every spit of power that Percy had within him was being very highly compressed, and it was all trying to escape at once, causing even the laws of physics to try and get away from Percy. He didn't even seem to realize what he was doing, and if it kept up, he would likely accidentally kill his younger brother.

Not that she'd exactly care what happened to the mouthy bastard. He'd come around and immediately started flaunting his latest prize, which just so happened to be Percy's ex-girlfriend, and it all seemed to be because the boy was jealous of Percy.

Artemis got between them, a hand was subtlety placed on Percy's chest, she hoped that after they'd become friends, that she would be able to calm him down and prevent him from doing anything stupid. She got right in front of him, forcing him to look her in the eyes, and immediately, the power fluctuation within the man had stopped, and he was once again just as calm as the waters by the shore.

Her eyes, as silver as the pale moonlight, yet just about the most beautiful thing he'd ever had the satisfaction of gazing at. Everything else seemed to be drowned out, no more any of his concern as he took that moment and immortalized it in memory. The scent of fresh cinnamon had invaded his senses and soothed his riled nerves. How had she been able to do that, without even saying a word. "I think we need to have a chat." He heard her say before the two of them were no longer anywhere near camp Half-Blood but instead on the edge of a cliff overlooking a sharp drop to many rocks and the oceans below.

Why a cliff? When he turned around, he'd found his answer. They were standing on a cliff in the shape of a spear tip, only the furthest twenty feet was a clearing that overlooked the drop, the rest was a thick forest of huge trees, it was as if this spot was the only thing left in the world. True privacy to talk as they wanted while they were under the moonlight, under HER eternal gaze.

She looked at him with intensity and sadness, he wasn't quite sure just what the Hell was happening, but he sure had some sort of idea, and it scared him to think that she was going to do this RIGHT NOW. "Tell me. Why does my heart beat faster whenever I look at you?"

 **A/N: Another chapter for you guys because you gave me such an overwhelming response for it. If any of you are wondering, the little brother, Jude, has a pretty important role to play, right down to his name being what it is. Trust me, I've got some kickass plan coming up for everyone.**

 **So what did you think? How about another review to keep me motivated on this bad boy :D**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	4. Chapter 4 - Sins and Seals

**Chapter 4 – Sins and Seals**

 ***Glances both ways* Hey, you got it boss. *Pockets the $1000 bribe***

He was entire aware that at the very basis of it all; he was in some deep shit. But, at least he now knew that it wasn't just him that was experiencing this strange... 'attraction'. Now that Artemis had, rather bluntly, brought it up, he knew that it was reciprocated, he just had no idea what to tell her from here on out.

There they were, Goddess and Angel, standing on the peak of a cliff overlooking the beautiful waves below, and being overlooked by the moon's eternal gaze. He found it rather symbolic of everything, and ironic considering how much things had changed. Once upon a time, many years ago, Artemis would have been the one to protect him, to watch over him just as the moon did to the sea, but now things were vastly different, and nobody watched over Death.

Percy looked at Artemis, she'd asked the question but he was too afraid to put the answer into words. What if she didn't like what she heard? He'd sealed away almost every portion of power he had so if Artemis truly wanted him dead, then she may actually succeed. That was something that he found out from their fight when they had both finally reached the limits of their power, and Artemis had come out as the victor.

"Fine, you can answer that another time as I put you on the spot." She admitted, taking in a deep breath in an effort to get that horrendous blush under control. She hadn't killed him, and she didn't look like she was completely against the idea of what she'd asked him, but as she'd told him, he decided to answer that another time, when they were both fully aware of just whatever the Hades was happening between them.

"Instead, you can tell me just why the fuck you lied to me about your power!" She bellowed, the whole cliff seemed to shake at it's very foundations with the intense anger she'd suddenly switched to. He'd REALLY aggravated her with that, and he hadn't even been aware that she'd been listening to him. He should have known better, she WAS a Goddess after all.

After a moment where Artemis had to yet again reign herself in, Percy decided on the best way to explain it. "To put it simply Artemis, at my full power, this body wouldn't be able to contain it all, not straight away at least." He told her, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on her. She hadn't changed back into what he assumed was her preferred form of a little girl, not since before he'd met her. It wasn't ideal because to him, Artemis was the most beautiful being he'd ever seen in his life.

"I had to seal away nearly all of my power in seven very specific seals that were made for me by another almost as strong as I." Percy told her, taking it slow to make sure that she was following, it was a pretty complex deal after all, but one that he knew she'd be able to grasp the concept of fairly soon.

"Who is as strong as you?" A wide eyed Artemis asked him incredulously. He'd just openly admitted that there was someone else as strong as him, HIM, the personification of Death, the only thing that was a guaranteed factor in anything with life.

"Conquest, another primordial. He is... Strange to say the least, but he is the one who controls the Soul Forge. He made that bow you have, and he made the seven seals for me. He carved them from the heart of a meteorite that was set to destroy Mercury... The planet, not the idiot." Percy informed her. That name, where had she heard it before.

As if a switching on a light, her mind was suddenly illuminated with the answers that made things start to click into place. Percy wasn't just Death, that was but one part of it, he wasn't just the personification, he was THE Death. The Horsemen, as was Conquest, alongside another two that rode the Earth when it was due to end. She knew for a fact that time wasn't now, but she could help but feel incredible underwhelmed by his presence now that she had suddenly figured it out. Gods, just how important was he?

Deciding to skip the questions about him being a Horsemen, she went straight ahead with her next question, "Percy, these seals, just how much of your power is stored within them?" She asked, a single eyebrow raised above the other. This was what she really wanted to know, EXACTLY how strong he was, and if he answered her truthfully, then she would finally understand how big the gap between them was. She wasn't even sure why it mattered so much to her, but either way, it did.

"After Conquest gave me the seals, I just did what I felt was natural and divided my power between all of. Something went wrong down the line though and now each of those seals represents one of my extreme qualities. The most powerful one being my Wrath, and the weakest one being my Lust, yet still not one to be underestimated, it could quite easily grant a mortal the power to destroy an entire country simply by touching the ground." Percy's words were, surely not possible? How could he have so much power judged solely on his measures of lust? He was the least lustful male she'd ever met and yet just on that factor alone he had enough strength to allow a mere mortal to destroy countries.

And that was the weakest one. "How much is in the strongest one?" She asked him.

"Pray you never find out." He sighed. Honestly, HE was the one praying that she would never find out. He was certain that she'd go mental at him if she could ever gauge just how much he'd hidden from her.

"Fine, fine, but what do your seals have to do with these, what did you call that Angel? A Sin?" Artemis was finding it all, so overwhelming but at the same time there was something else that she couldn't quite shake, a feeling of excitement was rushing through her body, what was she even excited about? This wasn't a good thing, it was supposedly bad because of what that Angel had become.

"Someone has clearly found my seals, or at least two of them, and is forcing them inside certain hosts that show signs of committing the sin of the seal. Luckily, they can't utilize any more than one tenth of the power inside the seals or we'd be in big trouble." Percy admitted. It was lucky that no one knew the things that he knew, or the world would no doubt very quickly change into a vastly different place.

He knew where two of his seals had gone as he had personally witnessed the first one being stolen. "Who is doing it, the Angel?" Artemis questioned, honestly though she just really wanted a reason to incur her wrath upon Uriel, the one who had gotten Percy's attention from a time long gone, even so, Artemis was slightly jealous of her.

"No, Uriel was once a friend, she knows far better than to take one of my seals in an attempt to use it's power. It was forced upon her by another Angel, or rather, a Fallen Angel. Lucifer was the one who started this, he stole the first seal for himself then bound Uriel to the second seal, Pride, making her the second Sin." Percy looked pretty pissed off at that point and Artemis could hardly blame him.

From what she'd gathered so far, he'd gone through the effort of having Conquest craft those seals and putting his power into them before Lucifer had hunted at least two of them down. "Lucifer has my Wrath, and Uriel has my Pride." He muttered quietly.

"It would seem that the bitter bastard has incorporated the seal inside Uriel to have some sort of brain poisoning effect, I can see no other way that she would be willing to fight by his side." Percy sighed before sitting down on the cliff edge. Everything was coming at him all at once and it wasn't turning out to be that much of a pleasurable experience.

"You mentioned a war before, and that Angel mentioned you being at the very center of some kind of conflict... Percy, what's coming?" Artemis' voice was softer than he ever remembered it being. Gods he hated the fact that he was getting attached, and to HER of all people. The one being that he could never have. She was very quickly becoming his guilty pleasure, for most of the night he'd been sneaking glances at her when he hoped she wasn't looking.

"Honestly it's just some more really unimaginative generic villain stuff. Lucifer wants to gain complete and utter control over the mortal world and can't do that with the Gods and Saints that inhabit it BUT the only way for him to ever succeed is to steal all of my power and have me killed off. That's pretty much it; standard villain stuff." Percy shrugged casually. He really did have a decent handle on this.

Artemis sat down next to him, her hand brushed across his but she didn't bother to move it away. Percy was curious as to why she'd let it remain on top of his. She MUST have known that it was his hand and not the edge of the cliff. "So that makes you the hero then?" She never took her eyes off of the ocean below them. She'd always wondered exactly what it would be like to do the things that Percy and all of the other children of the sea were able to do. It was one of the things that she was jealous of from Aphrodite.

The Goddess of Love was able to live and breathe under the seas, and Poseidon allowed it purely because she was born of the seas, and he would never sever her claim to it, he had too much respect for the waters themselves.

"I am no hero. I'm just the one the villains should be afraid of... Yes, I DID lied to you about my power, but I really did only have that much when we fought." He told her, tilting his gaze towards her. He wanted so badly to take her face in his hands and smother her lips with his, but on the other hand, he liked not being a eunuch, she he thought better of it.

"How many seals are there? If the weakest one you have contains as much power as you say, and the strongest one is near unfathomable in power, then I should be able to figure out exactly what's been bugging me this entire time." She finally met his gaze, and once she did, her heart nearly leapt with joy.

The moment their eyes met each other, the darkness in his had seemingly been eaten away all in a matter of seconds, revealing the eyes that she had waited for, the most vibrant sea green that words couldn't do justice, shining brighter than a thousand emeralds all being illuminated simultaneously by the moon's silver gaze. So they both had an effect on each other, and it was plain to see, right down to their eye contact.

"Seven seals, seven deadly sins that I cast out of my body. Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride and finally Wrath. Their strength go in that order." Artemis heard his words and spent a few moments going over them. So, Percy knew only where the two most powerful ones were. He knew that his Pride was inside Uriel, the Angel that he used to be friends with, and that his untameable Wrath was under Lucifer's control.

"I get it." She began, a small smile worked it's way onto her features. "I finally get it." She told him, never once taking her eyes away from his, they were just so mesmerising. They held such incredible power and authority, all she wanted to do was to pin him down and tell him that he was hers for the rest of her life, but she couldn't, she'd sworn a sacred vow to forever maintain her maidenhood. It was HER choice, but it would mean the end of her hunters, and they were like daughters to her, the bonds she'd created over the past thousands of years were something that she never wanted to break.

"Good, now maybe you can stop punching me." Percy grinned, showing her that toothy animalistic smile that drove her wild. It only showed for her, or in response to HER. It was Percy telling her in the most primal way that he knew how, that this smile was meant for one person and one person only.

Percy held his confident smile as he stood up, earning a disappointment glance from Artemis who was enjoying sitting next to him, perhaps a bit too much considering everything that she'd been constantly thinking about over the past day. How in Hades' had this man infiltrated her mind and emotions in the space of a single fucking day!?

"Oh, and in answer to your original question. I can't say for sure, but I think it's for the same reason that my heart beats at all when I'm around you." He told her, looking serious, and only giving her a look out of the corner of his eyes. That was it, she'd finally reached her breaking point.

Artemis got up and closed the distance between them instantly. She hooked a heel around his before slamming his body into the ground with enough force to shake every tree behind them. She wasn't done there though. She followed him down, sitting comfortably on top of him before she finally let her lips indulge in kissing that perfect Gods damned smile of his.

After they had finally broke apart, Artemis opened her eyes to see Percy lying there with his eyes closed. "I'm so going to die, but at least I'll die satisfied after getting to do the one thing I wanted to." He muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

What was he talking about? She suddenly realized he meant her oath. Her mind started flooding with all sorts of emotions. WHAT HAD SHE DONE!? "Gods, I'm so sorry Percy!" A single tear fell down her face as she scrambled to get off of him.

"Artemis wait!" Percy tried before she'd quickly flashed away from him, presumably back to camp or Olympus, either way, Percy couldn't chase after her, not so soon. Was that really all it had been to her? Just a mistake made in the heat of the moment? Percy's heart felt like a dead weight, after being struck off guard by emotions that he never thought he'd ever feel again, he was left high and dry once again, except he was sure that Artemis had simply meant to be friends with him like she'd said.

There was really only one thing left to do. Perhaps Conquest would craft a final seal for him, one to put his heart inside to stop it from ever hurting again. He'd continue to train the hunters, he'd turn them into complete warriors, but then he would disappear and never be heard from again.

He promised himself that this would be the last time he'd be foolish enough to let his emotions lead him. With a single thought he had crossed over into another dimension, one where an equally strong individual had been busying themselves before Percy had begun his inter dimensional journey.

 **Line Break. By the way... I'm not a llama, I don't know where those rumors started, but...**

Percy ripped through reality and fell through the low roof of the deepest room in the Soul Forge, the room where the actual forge was. He managed to change his center of gravity and land on his feed before his face made a very quick connection to the ground.

There was a lean, muscular man sitting at a grind wheel in the corner, sharpening a pure white long sword with a strange engraving on the hilt. He looked over his shoulder at the new arrival. "Oh, hey Death. I wondered when you'd pop in." His voice was deep and smooth, but not overly so. He lifted his welding helmet up to reveal short messy blond hair and the deepest electric blue eyes, complete with a suave smile.

"Hello Conquest, it's good to see you're back in the Forge after your last accident." Percy nodded with a smile. He liked Conquest, he was very easy to get on with after all. War was very difficult to gauge because he was constancy torn between two moods. It was an immortal's version of bi-polar because of the constantly shifting equilibrium of war and peace, thought it had to be said, when he was in a 'good' mood, he was genuinely one of the nicest and funniest guys around.

That left only one Horseman. Famine, and despite whatever the myths and legends pegged Famine as, SHE was astoundingly beautiful, but also an incredible pain in the ass, all the time, Percy was glad that he didn't really have to see her, EVER unless there was a dire time of need where they all had to ride forth and take care of a civilization that had run it's course.

Thankfully, it'd only happened once, on a planet FAR away from where Percy's friends and loved ones were. All of the Horsemen had seals, much like Percy's, because they too were extremely powerful individuals. Famine had two, Conquest had three, War had five and then there was Percy with seven.

Conquest grinned, holding up his arm to reveal a long ragged scar that worked it's way across his entire forearm, "Yeah it WAS pretty gnarly wasn't it?" He chuckled immaturely. It was to be expected, Conquest's personality reflected them as a family, despite Percy being the new face of Death, Conquest was the youngest out of all of them whereas Death was the oldest and was often forced to be the most serious.

For the first time since he'd been the reaper, Percy witnessed more than one other Horseman in the same place outside of them doing their duties and riding. War walking in, buckled up in full armor as per usual, drinking a suspiciously familiar cup of something.

"Hey, is that my tea you're drinking?" Percy asked with a slight glare. After losing his chance with Artemis, he was in no mood to be dealing with War's extreme bi-polar. He didn't care if there were eighty thousand planets engulfed in civil wars, he'd had enough of him taking it out on everyone else.

"Oh shit! I can't see very well out of this visor." War admitted with a shrug. "Sorry Death, I'll reform it." War told him quickly, despite whatever mood he was in, he wasn't one to actively anger Death, he went so far as to avoid the man whenever he could.

"What are you even doing here? Oh Gods, Famine isn't here is she?" Percy asked, looking over War's shoulder in the corridor behind them, hoping with every fiber of his being that he didn't have to put up with HER as well.

"Ease up bro, I'm just here to pick up my sword. I asked Conquest to take a look at it after it took a few dents when we fought against that asteroid God." War told him, behind that red visor, Percy could see white eyes shining with the same intensity that Uriel's did.

"What are YOU here for?" War asking, pointing a finger at Percy who had thrown himself onto the leather sofa that sat in the coolest part of the room. It had a beautiful draft that ran across the ceiling from the bellows, the heat from the forge no longer mattered when that sofa was in a prime location for some semi-natural air conditioning.

"I came by to see if it would be possible to get another seal." Percy told them casually with a nonchalant tone. War spat the tea out, making a huge mess inside his helmet and over most of the floor.

"You've only been Death for three years and already you wish to have an eighth seal crafted!? What on Earth would you put inside?" Conquest asked, getting up from his seat by the automated whetstone. As he walked over to War and Death, he inspected the blade before deciding that it was back to it's original condition before handing it over to War.

"My heart Conquest, I'd put my emotion inside it."

 **Line Break. So, I'm genuinely surprised that I've managed to keep direction with this story.**

Artemis flashed to Olympus, storming towards the throne room doors. What in Hades did they want now? It wasn't enough that they had constantly asked her and her hunters for support in transporting the Grace boy over the camp Half-Blood, and right after Poseidon's youngest son had turned up as well, but now they were taking liberties with summoning her out of the blue without any warning whatsoever.

She strolled through the throne room before taking her place. She was the last one to reach her throne and she wondered what was so important that she had to be called during her duty of pulling the night sky from her chariot. She had to man it on occasion, and tonight had been one of those times, besides, she found some comfort in being there as no one, not man nor God could disturb her, and she definitely needed some solitude to think about what she'd done.

Did there even need to be consequences? It was only a kiss after all, and wasn't her vow directly tied to her maidenhood? "Thank you for finally joining us Artemis, we nearly started without you." Zeus told her with a small glare that was almost missed.

"I'd never be so lucky." The hunter shot back just as quickly and with a glare to match.

"Whatever, let's begin with the meeting. As we ALL know, Artemis was in the mortal world recently, as she usually is, but she changed into her divine form before fighting in the sky with another immortal whose power was equal with her own at every stage. Apollo claims to not know personally who it is and as we know; Apollo cannot lie, it is against his very nature." Zeus continued to drawl on, earning him total disinterest from not just Artemis, but the other archer and just about every other God save for Hestia who listened as per usual.

"Artemis, is this immortal a threat to us?" Zeus asked at last, bringing Artemis out of her state of near unconciousness due to Zeus' constant monotonous droning on and on. She looked over to Apollo for a second who merely shrugged. He didn't know if Percy was a threat or not, he wasn't the one fighting him. He'd already done all he could for the once son of Poseidon.

Artemis had noticed that instead of doing what Apollo had done every single time in the past and tried to kill of each and every man to get close to his sister, he'd left her to go about her business and even gone so far as to directly protect Percy by indirectly lying to everyone, it gave Artemis a small bit of hope and appreciation for her brother.

"No, he is NOT a threat to us, but he would be able to kill us all without any effort whatsoever, so it's best that we don't anger him." Artemis told them all very cautiously. Zeus considered this for a moment, stroking his meticulously kept beard.

"Imma summon him." He said at last, rather childishly, brandishing the biggest grin on his face. Artemis nearly snorted, good luck summoning Death, she thought to herself.

"Brother, don't summon him." Poseidon sighed, resting his face in his palm. He'd had to put up with this idiot for a brother for so long when all he really wanted to be doing was resting in his palace at the bottom of the oceans.

"I... Can't." Zeus announced, shell shock plastered across the old Sky God's face. There was someone out there that he couldn't bring to the throne room? Even while he was sat on his throne, where he held the most power, not to mention that he had droves more strength than everyone except Hades, Poseidon and Hestia. Hera and Demeter weren't as powerful as the other four, despite Hestia's pacifistic ways.

"Come again?" Ares asked, pulling his sunglasses off, revealing two orbs of molted fire sitting in their place. Such a barbaric God.

Artemis smirked, "You wish to know who he is? Fine, I will try to summon him for you, but he may not come." Artemis told them, getting off of her throne and walking to the middle of the throne room, ALL eyes were on her and the pressure was on. If this didn't work then she would appear a fool to all of them, except Apollo who was sitting back and watching lazily. He didn't care whether it worked or not, he was planning on speaking to Percy privately another time.

"I know you can hear me, so don't make me look like an idiot." Artemis whispered, knowing that he'd hear her voice the moment she spoke. "Please come here and appear in front of the Olympian Gods... Death!" She shouted. For a moment nothing happened, and the various faces around the throne room reflected it before there was a gasp from Hera who looked like she'd just been stabbed through the heart, or maybe that's what she expected to happen when she saw him.

Artemis looked up only to see the back of Percy's body instead of Zeus and Hera sitting in there throne's. So he'd decided to answer the call, that was interesting, or so Apollo thought. He hoped when he decided to try it that Percy would answer for him as well and not just allow Artemis to summon him because of how she was clearly his favorite thing in this world.

Percy was once again dressed in a suit, though without a blazer, instead just a waistcoat covered a beautiful dark green shirt underneath. Percy was different, though she couldn't put her finger on it, because while he seemed to be so much colder than before, here he was, in the Olympians throne room, wearing half a suit, hands tucked into his pockets, and just looking at them expectantly. Yet he gave Artemis not so much as a single glance, let alone any words.

It was heartbreaking, but she supposed that it was partially her fault if not completely, that he was acting this way towards her. She promised herself that she'd fix what she'd said before he disappeared completely and did something worrying.

"Percy?" Poseidon asked in disbelief. The old sea God had practically leap off his throne and thrown himself at his son, grabbing Percy in a tight embrace.

"Hello father. I would have spoken to you, but as I'm sure you're all aware, I've had a rather interesting trip inside Kronos' cursed time vortex, but hey, the things I did for Olympus right?" He asked incredibly sarcastically. Poseidon would have felt bad about it, but he knew as well as Percy that it was all in the past and his son was genuinely over it.

That didn't stop Poseidon from feeling bad about being able to do nothing about it. Percy was locked in a time stream and the only way for him to escape was for him to get himself out or let it run it's course. Fortunately, Percy managed to escape it over seven hundred years early.

"My son, we thought you lost to the evil vices of that darkness next to Tartarus!" Poseidon bellowed, he was so happy that Percy was alive and well, and it was blatantly obvious. Artemis couldn't help but smile at the way the father showed his blatant appreciation. If only it was as easy and acceptable for her as it was for him. She silently returned to her throne, hoping that Percy didn't notice anything. It seemed that he was far too busy with his father to even glance her way.

"My will very quickly became indomitable. I killed every Demon I found in Hell and in return, I was hailed as one. It's true that I became the King of Hell, but only because I had rendered everything in their as nothing more than ashes at my feet. I was still but a demi-god during the first half of my time in Hell. It was during the second half that I became Death and escaped Kronos' time vortex all together." Percy explained casually. He wasn't one for using

Poseidon gave his son a sad nod before turning towards Zeus. "I think we can all agree that Percy is no threat to us, he is STILL my son regardless of his nature." Poseidon's voice boomed all around the throne room, a standing invite to anyone that wished to challenge him. Surprisingly, no one argued, not even Zeus uttered a single word against the two immortals of the sea.

Even if Zeus wanted to argue against Percy, what could he do? The boy was Death, someone far above himself, even though he HATED to every admit something like that.

"I hate to cut this short but I must attend to something, I have to be training someone in a few hours and I need to find my horse that got in a strop with me." Percy told them with a tired shrug. Artemis' face lit up and her heart jumped circles. Perhaps she actually could fix the damage she'd done, especially as it seemed that he was still planning on teaching the girls. Before anyone could say another word, their ears were filled with the sounds of feathers rustling.

"Whatever he's become, his looks have only gotten better." Aphrodite giggled lustfully as she was no doubt imagining all of the things she'd like to do with the once demi-god son of Poseidon.

"I'd keep your hands off him if I were you." Demeter pitched in quickly with a wizened look. Out of everyone that Artemis expected to argue with Aphrodite, she thought it would be herself, not Demeter of all people.

"Indeed, I'm sure that you haven't forgotten how this discussion started. He was in a fist fight with Artemis in their divine forms, that means something special that not even YOU can deny Aphrodite." Hestia told her, her eyes seemingly taking on an entirely new level of ferocity as they burned brighter than Ares'.

"Oh on the contrary my dear aunt Hestia-" Aphrodite began, her gaze now fixed on Artemis, silver eyes meeting bright kaleidoscopic orbs.

"We're not related." Hestia butted in, but she was ignored by Aphrodite who was too deep within her monologue and Artemis' silver gaze to care about what the keeper of the hearth had to say to her.

"-I am more than aware of what that 'sacred bond' conveys, and trust me when I say that I'm going to enjoy exploring every nook and cranny of said bond." And with that, she flashed out of the throne room. Artemis' body was engulfed in divine light so bright and compacted around her body that her hands were starting to dig into the arms of her throne, small cracks sprouted out from where her fingers were digging in, her glare still fixed firmly on Aphrodite's now empty throne.

"I am going to erase her from existence if she continues on her current path." Artemis declared loudly, oblivious to the rest of the throne room. Poseidon grinned eagerly, he loved civil wars, and of course he already knew who's side he would be on if it did indeed turn out to be a small war within their little Olympian family.

"And I'll back her all the way. Gotta protect my boy!" Poseidon chuckled before turning into a sea breeze and taking the first chance to get out of the meeting. Artemis observed Poseidon's quick exit and followed suit.

"Well, I guess that means the meeting is over. You may all leave." Zeus told them casually, no longer really caring what happened. The one they considered a threat turned out to be Percy, who was actually Death, and he was rather fond of his nephew and had an unusually large stock in the boy. It was PERCY after all, who was now back in the Soul Forge, collecting something very special that Conquest had made him.

The younger Horseman had felt bad, he'd refused to make a seal for Percy's heart, claiming that Death wasn't ready to give up after a single bad experience, and instead promised to make his older brother something very special instead.

It seemed only fair that he give Death SOMETHING, especially as Percy couldn't even use his sacred weapon because of the fact that nearly all of his power was locked away in the seals. Conquest had crafted everything that he owned, but also War's armor and sword, even Famine had received a gift from the youngest Horseman, so it was finally time for Percy to get something that he could actually use, even with that much power gone. And it was AWESOME!

 **Line Break. Pretty long chapter this is, but you know, no complaints now ;)**

Artemis had been sat beside Chiron watching from the porch on the big house for hours now. She'd been keeping a watchful eye on her girls as they broke records on the archery range, but she also kept an eye out for Percy. He'd specifically told the Gods that he had to leave them because he had to train someone, and who else was he training after promising to help Artemis' hunters?

Just as her heart began to weep because of the prospect of him never coming back, her ears picked up something extraordinary. Fire, and lots of it. Far above them all the sky was parting for the shape of a body rocketing straight towards the camp. By the time the campers had noticed it, it was already upon them.

It had happened so fast that by the time Artemis had flashed over to the crater that sat in the very center of the camp, Percy was inside already standing up from his crash landing. There was a scorch mark, the outline of his wings that ran the entire span of the crater, they were easily reaching five meters in length either side.

He wasn't like he was in the throne room, he'd changed again, it was as if he was back to the almost happy Percy, but with whatever he felt for her simply cut out and thrown away, or at least locked away. Despite that not being the case, Conquest refused to give Percy and eighth seal, but instead gave him what he actually needed. The collar for his horse who had decided to go on a spree of eating stardust across the furthest galaxy. Something that only HIS horse would do due to his irrational addiction to sugar cubes and donuts.

Percy stepped out of the crater, casually waving his hand, causing the earth to rise up to it's previous position, soon covering any evidence that there had ever been a crater there. He wore combat boots and black jeans, complete with a black leather hunting vest, a sturdy and lightweight combination for a nimble and agile warrior. She wasn't sure why HE needed it, she wasn't even sure that he could be hurt by anything short of the combined force of the Olympians.

Finally Percy regarded her existence, "Good afternoon Lady Artemis." He spoke with complete respect as he usually did, but it was cold and somewhat uncaring but Artemis could see right through that. He did care, he was just hurt.

"OK, stop that, right now. I don't know why I did what I did, but I have no regrets about it Percy. I might have been overcome by a rash decision, but it's one that I was well on the path to making anyway. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you're still going to act like a heartless bastard after hearing this." Artemis whispered so that none of the other campers could hear her.

Percy was surprised to say the least. "We'll talk later." He told her before turning to walk towards the hunters. He stopped after only a few feet and glanced back at Artemis who stood still, almost frozen to the spot with his more than underwhelming reaction. "If you can keep your hands off me." He whispered, giving her the most falsely innocent wink in history.

She was blushing, and had absolutely no excuse for it that the campers of Chiron would accept, so she stormed after him, hot on his heels as he marched towards the archer range with what seemed like... A collar in his hands?

"Percy, why are you carrying... That?" She asked him, deciding not to push her luck with what she was speaking to him about. They were finally speaking again. It had been less than eight hours but it felt like an eternity of her getting her heart ripped out and every second. Little did she know that Percy had felt exactly the same way.

"This? Oh, nothing, it's just for my BASTARD HORSE!" Percy bellowed at nothing in particular before a beautiful horse the same shade of raven as Percy's hair, shot out of the ground surrounded in pale flames before he stood before them.

"I don't believe it." Artemis sighed, knowing what was about to happen. Gods she despised this exact horse. Why did this have to be the one thing to follow Percy over into his new life!?

'Sup boss?' Blackjack asked his Horseman.

 **A/N: Who saw that coming? If you were surprised (pleasantly) by anything in this chapter you have to leave a review. If there were multiple times, you have to count them and put a number before your review! :D**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	5. Chapter 5 - Three Of A Kind

**Chapter 5 – Three Of A Kind**

 **A/N: I should add something. Chaos is mentioned in this story though he/she/it will not appear. This is NOT a Chaos story, even though that entity is just as entitled as everything else in the Pjo universe.**

Blackjack had effectively brought the attention of just about everyone inside the camp, including three demi-gods who had been returning from their own quest. A daughter of Aphrodite, a son of Hephaestus and... a son of Zeus? No, that wasn't right, he wasn't a child of Zeus, but rather of Jupiter. That was odd, why was there a Roman in the...

Percy remembered, he remembered why he'd even been at Camp Jupiter in the first place. After he'd gotten out of the time vortex he'd returned to the place that he'd been just before it had happened. During his time in Hell, he'd regained all of his memories. Percy and the boy, Jason, had been swapped between the camps, both of them a sure figurehead within their hierarchies.

"You, I thought you were dead!" The son of Hephaestus, what was his name? Leo? Yeah, that was it, Leo, pointed right at Percy walking over in disbelief. The other two following him silently, neither of them knowing who Percy was.

"I thought YOU were dead." Percy responded, mostly because he had no idea what to actually say in response to that. It was nice to know that after Leo had met him once, that he pegged him as the type to die in the space of the three months it had been for the Greeks since Percy had been in their camp.

"Death is fleeting." Leo announced, holding his hands to the sky dramatically. Artemis arched an eyebrow in the background, eager to see what Percy would do in this situation, especially considering the fact that he was suddenly in a rather... Playful mood.

"Your mother is fleeting!" Percy shot back with a very well hidden grin perched below the facade of being offended. Leo wasn't even sure where that had come from and just stared at Percy, as did most of the campers who were shocked at how laid back he was.

Jude rolled his eyes extensively. "Leo, Percy IS Death. Since he's been gone he's turned into the Grim Reaper basically." The younger son of Poseidon informed him, effectively giving Leo the explanation as to Percy's words.

The son of Hephaestus promptly burst into laughter after it became apparent why Percy's choice of words had included a mother joke. 'Hey bossman, you've summoned me. Is it important? I'd just found a nebula that resembles that mortal chocolate, milky way bars.' Blackjack announced, getting Percy to return to the point where he'd summoned him.

"Do NOT eat a galaxy Blackjack. You're am immortal phantom horse now, act like it." Percy scolded him. Artemis face palmed so loudly that Blackjack had finally registered her presence before neighing loudly and bucking up away from her. So even as the horse belonging to Death, Blackjack was still capable of fearing her, that was good, it meant that she had at least some hold over Percy.

"Well, either way, it's good that you're back, capture the flag hasn't really been the same since." Leo told him. Percy noticed a few things in that moment. He had reached out and taken a firm hold on time, deciding that now would be a good time to start training himself in it's uses. He'd never be able to do the things that Kronos or Chronos could, but he could bring everything around him to a standstill.

Inside his little time pause, he noticed Blackjack was bucking away from Artemis who standing not far behind him, feeling rather smug with the fact that Blackjack's fear was still alive. Leo, and the two other demi-gods were throwing their equipment down, they'd obviously just come back from a quest and would want nothing more than to simply relax. Annabeth was no where to be seen, such was the thing for most of the older campers, except Jude who was giving Percy a bad case of stink eye. So the little brother had a problem? Oh well, Percy didn't exactly expect to be around that long, or at least not long enough to really give Jude any reason to genuinely hate him.

He decided that he'd seen enough, he let time slip from his grasp and everything continued as it was before. "You going to be leading a game tonight?" Leo grinned, as if him being a primordial God was nothing in the way of him sticking around to play a game of capture the flag.

Percy saw this as the perfect opportunity. Artemis didn't want to throw away what they had, and she wasn't the Goddess to go back on her word, especially not about that, so he decided that he was going to push her as much as possible before they finally had their little 'chat', or as it would more than likely be known as 'round two'. He wasn't even sure what it was that made him feel the way he did, all he knew for sure was that there were only two times when he felt something incredible, whenever the two of them were locking horns, drowning out the rest of the world, and that time when her hand had been on his atop that long cliff.

It was like ecstasy, a pure and brilliant ecstasy.

"Sure Leo, but only on the ground that Lady Artemis joins in." He announced as he stared straight at her, giving it as much as a single second before producing that signature grin for her. He must have known what that smile did to her. She almost let out a feral growl at the man before stubbornly agreeing to play in their game.

"Here's an idea, why don't we play it right now? As Lady Artemis and myself are higher immortals, WE cannot use any powers or unfair tactics, and we must play as team players, not captains." Percy announced. This was pondered for a moment before everyone realized that this was realistically the only way that they would ever get a fair game with both of them involved.

"Sure, so who get's who?" Leo asked, turning to see what the Jupiter lad had to say about it. From what Percy could gather, it was more than likely that Jason was regularly a captain of the teams, most likely along side Clarisse or perhaps...

"We get the Goddess and the hunters!" Jude announced before storming off towards the Poseidon cabin to get his equipment.

"Well, I guess that settles it." The son of the lightning God had spoken up for the first time since appearing. Walking over to Percy he held his hand out, "Jason, Jason Grace, son of Zeus. It's nice to meet you." He introduced himself well and thoroughly polite.

Strangely enough, he was under the illusion that he was a Greek, but that was of course all part of Hera's stupid fucking plan. Percy so badly wanted to destroy her sometimes, but on other occasions he saw that she was actually vital to the continued existence of Olympus, as was everyone.

"I was once known as Percy Jackson, son of Posei-HOLD UP, did you say Grace? As in, Th-" Percy quickly found a hand wrapped around his mouth and Artemis' dagger threatening to pierce the skin of his back. They both vanished right in front of poor Jason's eyes who had a very brief sweat drop.

Percy seemed rather close to Artemis. The two of them appeared again just mere moments later, "So yeah, son of Poseidon but hey, most people call me Death these days. It's a pleasure." Percy continued like absolutely nothing had happened, shaking Jason's hand with a fairly decent fake smile on show. Jason and Leo, flanked by the daughter of Aphrodite decided to leave Percy and the Goddess to go about their business.

Death turned on the spot, his smile quickly turning into a ferocious glare pointed straight at Artemis who stood with her arms folded, refusing to look at him and whistling in fake innocence. "You could have warned me in ways that didn't involve a knife to the back and a series of kidney punches!" He whispered angrily.

Artemis shrugged and winked at him before flashing away to go and inform the hunters of what was going to happen. "Oh OH Death!" A troublesome voice filled the camp. He knew who it was, unfortunately is had been loud enough that EVERYONE had heard it, putting Artemis directly on to high alert and coming to investigate with all of the hunters, each of them with bows at the ready.

No, he did NOT want to be dealing with this right now! "Won't you spare me over another? Hah, isn't that how the mortal song goes? I never knew someone made a song about you brother." The voice sounded off again before a bright orb of light erupted from thin air in front of Percy bobbing up and down with excitement. It had been far too long since he'd set foot on these lands.

"Do you think if I asked someone, they'd make a song about me?" The orb voiced it's queries, either oblivious to everyone else or he simply didn't care.

"Percy, what's this?" Artemis came over and actually pocked the orb with an arrow.

"Hey! Hands off the goods sister!" The orb shouted with irritation. Artemis was shocked, and wasn't even sure if she was meant to be offended. If she was, she hadn't the faintest idea how to go about reprimanding the flying ball of light. Blackjack came sauntering over from the shady spot he'd been relaxing in.

To everyone else, they heard a series of whinnies and neighs, but to Percy and the orb, they heard something much more explicit than that. "Yeah good to see you too you equestrian bastard. I could just repay you right now for trying to eat my mask!" The orb responded quickly. Percy looked tired, he couldn't believe that this was his current situation.

Blackjack let off yet another response that left Percy wide eyed. The ball of light exploded to reveal a man just as tall as Percy but with short sandy blond hair, piercing blue eyes and scars over most of his visible skin. He was wearing tight black jeans, bulky combat boots and a black vest not dissimilar to the one that Artemis had seen Percy wearing the other night.

"Time to die horse!" The man reeled his fist back, only to have Percy lock onto his body.

"Now is not the time for that Conquest!" Percy boomed, effectively calming this man, Conquest, enough so that he didn't lash out and slaughter Blackjack.

Percy did however turn to his horse, "Please tell me that you didn't!" Percy demanded from where he was, holding back the struggling man. Blackjack let out a sound that could only be described as a mocking laugh. Percy almost paled at the horse's response.

"Death, I'm going to kill and eat your horse." Conquest told him, after stopping the struggle against his elder. There was no way that he could physically win against Death, at least, not with something like this. Percy's physical body before he became a Horseman was astoundingly strong, it had been exercised constantly for four years inside Hell.

Blackjack had clearly decided that it was no longer safe inside the camp and bolted towards the sea, fading in a flurry of pale flames before there was nothing but a few hoof prints burned into the ground. He'd probably gone back to trying to eat a small solar system. That horse could literally eat for days.

"What are you even doing here?" Percy turned back towards the other Horseman. How had he even gotten inside the barrier?

"Well, it's been quite some time since I've been back home, so I thought why not, I'll just go and chill out with my big bro." Conquest grinned, donning a pair of sunglasses and showing off his bright smile. There was something about it that caused Percy to step back for a second, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Behind him, Artemis was equally disturbed by this, but she had no better thoughts than Percy.

"OK Conquest, but you cannot destroy anything, or hurt anyone, and you most certainly cannot tell War or Famine about this. I'll never hear the end of it from her and I may just have to permanently murder War." Percy warned him. Everyone in the camp, including Jude this time, had wisely chosen to stay away from what who was quickly establishing themselves as the most powerful beings any of them had ever met, Artemis included. She wasn't sure how, but the magnitude of force that had erupted from the two of then when Percy had stopped Conquest from murdering Blackjack had been an astounding amount, even to her.

"How DID you get here? And exactly how long has it been since you personally visited the mortal world?" The raven haired Horseman queried, though judging from Artemis' irritated expression. He'd apologize to her later but right now ever since he'd gotten back to the camp himself, there had just been incident after incident, what with the campers swarming him, Artemis' rather short explanation of the early hours of the morning and right through Blackjack's antics and then finally Conquest's random appearance.

"Oh, one of your Gods was about to try and call you, so I just hitched a ride on that summoning wavelength. I may have accidentally thrown him into the sun, but you know, I'm sure he can handle it, and I think the last time I was here... The city I lived in was called Babylon. Where are we now?" Conquest really WAS from Earth after all, but that didn't explain how he was inside the demi-god barrier, though those questions could wait until another day.

"You... You THREW a God into the SUN?" Percy looked at him in dread. The first time he'd been back in what must have been around four and a half thousand years and he'd already managed to assault one of the Olympians.

"Well it WAS Apollo, so I know that he'd be fine." conquest shrugged, catching Percy by surprise with how up to date he was with said Gods. Maybe it wasn't so outlandish to assume that Conquest knew exactly who or what he was talking about when it came to the deities of his own planet, after all, he must have done something good to be declared worthy enough to be the Horseman of Conquest.

"I'm not exactly my brothers biggest fan, but that does mean he was trying to call you. Percy, and or Conquest, would either of you please bring my idiot brother back to this rock instead of the Sun." Artemis asked them, glaring at both with equal amounts of disdain.

Conquest shrugged and simply clicked his fingers. She didn't like him, he reminder her far too much of-AND THERE IT WAS! The thing that had gotten her feeling so sick. After Conquest had summoned him, it was... It was like looking at TWO APOLLOS! They stood side by side, both with a similar messy blond haircut, but it was the way they stood, that and the gleaming smile of pearly whites only to be complete with a pair of sunglasses.

"Conquest... Um... Are you a demi-god, or WERE you a demi-god?" Percy asked. His answer was questioned when the two of them seemed to notice each other for the first time.

"Conquest, who's Conqu-..." Apollo was stunned speechless, for possibly the first time in his immortal life, he was absolutely wordless. Artemis couldn't take it any more. She barely scrapped by with ONE Apollo, but this... THIS was far too much. Percy was made away of this small fact by the way that the air suddenly changed. He felt the vibrations of her body falling and before she could hit the ground, he turned and caught her. Taking her to a shady spot underneath a tree and calling the hunters over to watch her. He had to get back to Apollo and Conquest in case the Horseman decided to throw the God back into the Sun.

"Oh, hey there." Conquest greeted casually. Percy almost laughed at the fellow Horseman's antics, unfortunately, now wasn't the time for that, there were much more 'important' things to de doing, such as finding a way for Percy to get both Conquest AND Apollo involved in their game of capture the flag so that he'd have a chance of beating the crap out of both of them.

"Enough talk, do either of you want to join in with a little game of capture the flag? We're limiting our powers to that of our physical bodies so that we can join in with the dem-gods." Percy told them both with a genuinely warm smile.

"Hey I'd love to cous, but I'm also cool with not dying, so I think I'll give it a pass. When you get a moment, I'd really appreciate you coming by my palace on Olympus, there is something very important that I need to discuss with you." Apollo told him before turning his gaze once more to Conquest.

"Later dude." Conquest give the sun God a small salute before they both abruptly grinned and gave one another a fist bump. No, Conquest wasn't Apollo's sun, contrary to what Death was thinking, they simply shared a LOT of traits, which hadn't gone down to well with Death's romantic interest who was currently passed out underneath a tree. "I still wanna play. I'd love to get a chance to punch you in the face." He grinned, taking his shades off and letting the slowly falling sun cast it's last rays of sunshine over him. He did so love the sensation of bliss that washed over him whenever he was allowed the freedom to really savor a sun going down in a vast horizon. That was the thing that he'd miss the most if he ever had to destroy the Earth.

"Conquest, you're allowed to join in with the games, but why did you need to see me?" Percy asked, getting back to the rather important matter of why the Hell another Horseman had been actively seeking out the first.

"Oh, so I was in the Soul Forge as I usually am these days, finishing up a particularly nasty piece of work that Famine wanted me to do, still don't know whether she intends to use it as a weapon or a toy, but I got an interesting, er, guess you could call it a letter. First time I've ever had anything like it arrive at the Soul Forge, but it's a call to arms from big momma Chaos herself. Seems like the lovely lady has a very special mission for us, one that, for once, doesn't involve the complete annihilation of an entire civilization." Conquest never stopped grinning as he continued to offer Death his outlandish explanation as to why he was here.

"What the actual fuck?" Was all Percy offered in response.

"I know right? I thought, eh why not? Might be a chance for you to prove to War and Famine that you're not as scary as you seem without that true form of yours." Conquest smirked.

"Don't push it buddy, or the face of Death will be the last thing you ever see." The son of Poseidon warned him, earning nothing short of a booming laugh in response. Behind him Artemis was regaining consciousness.

"Is that not what EVERY living thing experiences once they cease to exist?" Conquest had never felt so smug, and had never really had a chance such as this to become so smug but Death was just making it so easy on him today.

"Not the point, we're probably going to start our game pretty soon, so I'll put you on the same team as the Goddess, IF you can play nice." Percy didn't wait around for a response but instead marched over to the hunters who were all sat with their Goddess. Unlike Artemis who had been unconscious, most of the hunters had been watching the interaction between their temporary tutor and the man who looked an awful lot like Apollo.

"Who's that? It's not my idiot brother, his power feels different. He's actually far too relaxed to be Apollo." Thalia announced which confused most of the other hunters. A man that was more laid back than Apollo?

"Well, he isn't your idiot brother, he's my idiot brother. Someone else like me, someone else that compared to demi-gods, has just as much power as me. He's playing in the games tonight but don't worry, he's on your side." Percy told them, making a good number of them seem to relax.

"But I'm not." He added, making them all tense up once again. He didn't feel like letting them know that they had all sworn to use only their physical strength that was natural to their bodies, something that Conquest wasn't too happy about as it meant that Percy still had a huge advantage due to his more than rigorous training regime while trapped in the depths of Hell. Either way, the Horsemen both knew that whatever happened in the games tonight, they would both be gunning after each other, and it was sure to be one Hell of a fight.

 **Line Break. Hold onto your butts, EPIC fight scene coming up. Oh, and a... Actually never mind, just wait ;)**

Night had quickly converged upon them as per Artemis' own will. What was the point of playing capture the flag if they couldn't incorporate SOME kind of stealth element into the mix, though she wasn't sure whether she'd done herself a favor or just made it harder for everyone against Percy.

Every camper, hunter and immortal were all gathered around a large fire, as per tradition before a special night games. This was where the two captains would pick their teams. It seemed that this year, or at least since Percy had left, the captains were Jason Grace, the son of JUPITER, and Percy's own younger brother, Jude, whose initially friendly reception of his brother had quickly turned sour.

"As we managed to establish earlier, Percy is on my team," Jason began, effectively getting everyone's attention. "And Jude is captaining the other team with Lady Artemis and all of her hunters as well. Those are the beginnings of the teams." The crowd seemed to be indecisive over who they wanted to be teamed with, on one hand, most didn't want to be against Artemis because of her hunter's tendencies to leave most men whimpering on the floor, but on the other hand, NOBODY wanted to be against Percy, probably because people enjoyed living, despite this being a friendly game.

There were already rumors floating about because Thalia had slyly gone around telling everyone about the 'friendly' fight that Percy and Artemis had over the hunters camp. To think, the man they once knew as the savior of Olympus had gained so much power to be able to evenly match Artemis in her divine form, the peak of her power.

"I'm fight on this kids side. You guys really do need all the help you can get against Death." Conquest chipped in, moving himself to stand beside Jude, representing pretty much their only chance of beating Percy outright. Artemis didn't like the implications that she couldn't handle him by herself, even if she knew that it was really true.

"How about that _brother?_ " Jude asked venomously. Everyone could see the tension rising in it's decidedly one sided position. Jude saw Percy as some big threat but Percy saw nothing more than another one of Poseidon's children.

"I like my chances. After all, cut off the head, and the body doesn't know what else to do. Unless of course you're a hydra." He commented, shutting Jude down pretty quickly.

Conquest decided that if this continued, then there would be a dead son of the sea pretty quickly, so he got the topic back to it's original place. "Hey Death, you said no power but that doesn't stop me from using my weapons if I restrict them right?" Conquest had rather effectively silenced his petty team leader.

"I see no reason why not, just don't hurt any of the demi-gods." Percy warned him, earning merely a grin in response. It hadn't taken them that long before the teams were finally decided, mostly the older ones who knew Percy had been brave enough to join Jason's team. They were willing to risk fighting against ANOTHER Horseman as well as Artemis and her hunters. To Jude's extreme displeasure, Annabeth had decided to join Jason's team, and it could only have been so that she could get closer to Percy. She was an excellent tactition, so maybe even with Conquest and Artemis, their team would suffer in the games.

To event the numbers, Thalia had decided to join Jason's team, Artemis let her, it was all of her old friends and it was her BROTHER that Artemis had sworn her to secrecy about. She'd gone against Zeus' word to tell Thalia, she deserved to know, but they couldn't have her ruining the plan for the two camps, and Thalia fully understood that, but it was still nice to be able to see and speak to him again.

Jason's team had set up a command tent that held their flags. There were three in total and only one could be retrieved at a time, so there could only ever be two flags in play at the same time. They were going over strategy, with Annabeth and Malcolm coming up with a lot of tactics.

Thalia and Percy sat just outside the tent, listening to their smart minds coming up with strategies, neither of them were too fussed with particular plans for the games, Thalia would go along with whatever their actual plan was and Percy was just hoping to run into Conquest where the REAL games would begin.

"Percy, Thalia!" Jason called them back inside, he wanted their agreement on the final plan before it all kicked off. By Percy's count, they had another few minutes before the horn would sound off and they would all start the game.

"I'm not going to lie Jason, and please don't take this as me undermining your plan, because I'm not, it's a great plan, it's just I have to find Conquest and Artemis before they find any of our guys or the flags, and that's really the only way this is ever going to go. So you do the plan, and let me... Be a wild card." Percy grinned, showing them all the smile that he'd been keeping exclusive for Artemis' eyes only. He swore he heard Annabeth whimper in the corner, though he didn't know why, he tried to ignore her as much as he could.

The horn went off, echoing all throughout the thick forests. "Time to go." He barely whispered it, but by the time they had registered what he was saying, there was already a dust trail being kicked up behind him as he bounded off into the wood, being engulfed by darkness within seconds. Thalia was quick to follow, finally being flanked by Clarisse who was capable of taking on most of the campers by herself.

"He has more power than is even fair." Malcolm muttered before leaving the tent. He was on the first perimeter patrol and decided not to get lazily with it simply because the game had only just started.

Further on in the woods, thing were just about to get interesting. Artemis was perched in a canopy that overlooked a patch of woodland that stretched uphill for nearly fifty meters, complete with a small stream running horizontally through it. She knew exactly where Conquest was, because they had set a magnificent trap. She would watch over him and he would take the brunt of the force, their target: Death.

According to Conquest, if they did everything exactly as he'd imagined it, then they would be able to overcome him and gain just enough time for him to get a flag and push them into first place, but this WAS Percy, so she didn't quite see it going according to plan, because that would of course simply be too easy.

Conquest was hidden perfectly in a thick shrub that even Artemis had trouble finding in the dark. Percy came bolting into view, leaping over a boulder before coming to a complete stop. Strangely he was sniffing at the air. "No demi-gods." He announced before taking another look around. "Not even any hunters around here, boy you sure are confident in your skills aren't you Conquest. You MUST have known that I'd come rushing in, so where are you." He was talking to himself. It was incredible, he wasn't wrong it really was just Artemis and Conquest waiting for Percy, everyone else had been ordered to take a wide birth over the central path because there was zero chance that any of them would stand strong against Percy.

"Oh? Hello... That smell, very sweet, like cinnamon dancing along the lips... Come on out Artemis, I can track your scent from a mile away, nobody else smells that good." Percy announced loudly, his voice echoed around the clearing. How in Hades had he just done that!? Of course he'd said he could track her scent, but how had he turned it from a solid hunting observation into one of the smoothest things she could imagine?

"Brother, I'm startled that you think I smell of cinnamon." Conquest laughed before launching himself out of the shrub and straight at Percy, both of them instinctively lashed out with sword, a shock wave of force erupted all around them. Artemis dropped from her perch, landing slightly behind the two Horsemen, drawing back the string of her bow.

It seemed that Percy had gotten so excited with the prospect of Conquest that he'd forgotten all about her and her overwhelmingly nice smell. She fired the arrow quick and true, lodging a silver shaft in the side of Percy's leg. The old son of Poseidon launched his blade up and kicked Conquest in the chest before backing up a few feet, gripping the silver arrow with one hand and ripping it out before dropping it on the floor, the tear in his leg already knitting itself up.

So he not only had some crazy strength and speed with his physical body, but it also healed up automatically? She knew he could do it with water and was even expecting him to take a few moments in the stream to sort it out, but that was apparently not the case.

"And it just wouldn't be the same if I didn't have you thrown in the mix now would it?" Percy grinned, giving her that toothy grin of his that stirred her up from the inside. Artemis grinned just as ferociously as she unleaded even more arrows, each one being sliced straight through the middle by Percy's black sword. She'd have to ask him about that later because it didn't look like any metal from Olympus yet she could clearly see it's capabilities to cut down her attacks.

Conquest made another charge, sweeping his sword in strong arc that would have scored itself against Percy's skin if the reaper hadn't of slapped out against the flat of Conquest's blade, sending it flying skyward before lashing out with his heel, digging it straight into the muscles surrounding the blond Horseman's neck.

Conquest went crashing down into the boulder that Percy had leaped over as he arrived. Percy had literally kicked Conquest so hard that the Horseman's body had broken the boulder all the way to the center. That gave Percy a chance to handle Artemis before she could become too troublesome in the rapidly evolving fight.

Knowing that her bow wasn't going to do too much in the way of stopping him, she pulled a single knife out of her belt and lurched forwards, ducking under Percy's first swing, bringing the blade up his side, opening up a neat would that stretched from his waistline right to his shoulder. It took mere seconds to heal over but by the time it did, Conquest had erupted out from the rubble of the boulder.

Cracking his neck from side to side he emerged with a smile on his face. "Oh yeah, that hit the spot, you warmed up yet?" Conquest asked, giving Percy the courtesy of actually seeing if he was ready to begin with the real battle

"Of course, what do you take me for?" Percy laughed jovially, throwing his sword out of sight, much like Conquest had done. Artemis felt somewhat underwhelming, knowing exactly what these two idiots were about to do, nonetheless, she wasn't about to be left out on this, she'd only just reached a victory over him when it was the two of them, going all out in their divine forms, but he'd lied to her about how much power he truly had, despite it all being sealed away.

Artemis moved faster than Conquest, being the first to unleash and incredible punch that shook the ground, to her shock, Percy had caught her fist with an open palm before pushing back at her, throwing her further up the hill before he jumped and unleashed a roundhouse kick that was aimed straight at Conquest's head. The younger Horseman managed to avoid Death's heel for the second time, not that it had lessened the pain from the first one at all, before responding with his own kick.

Percy received a brutal axe kick that threw him straight at the tree Artemis had been perched in. The two of them were shaking the landscape just with martial arts, it was actually somewhat terrifying. It surprised her the most that Percy was even remotely able to keep up with Conquest due to all of his seals.

"I'd go and see about getting those flags milady." She heard Conquest tell her over his shoulder. She couldn't agree more, this was now a fight between brothers and it seemed that in the space of a day, Percy had gotten remarkably stronger. She gave him a solemn nod before running up the hill at lightning speed, she still had to deal with Thalia who was more than likely going to give her quite a shocking time getting those flags.

"Good, now we can really let loose without you worrying about your girlfriend." Conquest giggled immaturely.

Percy grunted, pulling himself to his feet, "She's not my girlfriend!" That was literally the only thing he could think of saying before planting his fist straight into Conquest's abdomen. He may have gone slightly overboard, especially when he noticed the shock expression on his face for the millisecond that he was still standing in front of Percy and not rocketing towards Percy's own command tent.

So that 'little' bit of extra strength had turned out to be a whole lot more than he'd originally planned on using, and now Conquest was nowhere to be seen, much like everyone else. Percy looked around for a moment to retrieve his blade but was dismayed when he couldn't find it or Conquest's. Now wasn't the time to be retracing his steps to find their swords. He'd just basically given them the game unless he caught up to them.

Watching from the shadows, Jude followed his brothers footsteps silently. He'd been undetected by all three of the immortals in the game, but now he could see his chance to strike. Armed with a black and a white sword that belonged to God killers, he followed his prey. He was about to commit the greatest betrayal since his namesake, the Iscariot. Why? Well, he WAS the Sin of Envy in service to Lucifer after all...

 **A/N: OK, somewhat long note here so bear with me.**

 **First of all, I'm taking a few days off writing. This is your fifth chapter in consecutive days, so I need a little bit of rest. I'll still be writing, just not as fast.**

 **Secondly, a few people saw it coming, but for those who didn't, Jude was planning on betraying Percy due to his own crippling jealousy, thus, our current villain Lucifer, has forced a seal upon him. Yes, Jude has become the Snake's sin of Envy. Rather fitting isn't it?**

 **That makes three seals that you guys know about. Four if you were REALLY smart and figured out the other one.**

 **Either way, stay strong all of you Dons! See what I did there? ;)**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	6. Chapter 6 - One Way Trip

**Chapter 6 – One Way Trip**

Percy burst through the tree line to see Thalia and Artemis engaged in a brutal knife fight, rogue thunderbolts flying everywhere from the two Grace children of the thunder God. Conquest was very slowly pulling himself up off of the ground. Percy's last hit had done some real damage to the Horseman. All of the campers were here, all fighting each other. Percy grinned, knowing that if he finished Conquest's efforts to stand, then he could force the younger Horseman to forfeit for the round, then the only threat would be Artemis.

Before he could do anything, the world slowed down, but not by his doing. He saw Annabeth out of the corner of his eye, running towards him and shouting something at him. Or maybe it wasn't him she was shouting at. He saw the way her arms reached out desperately but she was so far away from him.

He suddenly felt the unforgettable sensation of two blades piercing through the skin of his back. He was astounded that there were two swords capable enough to not only pierce his skin but be forced all the way through his body and pin him to the ground. He received a rough boot pushing his face into the dirt while the swords were shoved in even further.

He only noticed the problem when it was too late to stop it. Both his and Conquest's black and white swords were lodged through his chest, and they had the unmistakable green glow of a binding spell shivering across their blades. He managed to pull himself to his feet only to see Conquest enraged and Artemis not in a dissimilar way. Conquest was covered head to toe in a blazing inferno, his eyes a searing white hot as he held his hand out at something behind him.

"MOVE GIRL! I WILL SEND HIM TO THE VOID MYSELF!" Conquest bellowed, his mere voice causing the ground to shake under his trembling power. Artemis had grown into the size of a God and held her bow out, tension high as Percy held his hand up to stop them both, glancing lazily at the swords in his chest, they weren't really the source of the problem.

The problem was that little green spell that had been cast over them. He turned around to see the perpetrator, just to witness Jude with a knife over Annabeth's throat, the whole of the camp had turned to watch in shock.

"Why?" Percy asked through ragged breath, the effects of the swords already starting to wage a heavy toll on his physical body.

"What can I say? You've ruined my life in the space of a day. What else was I supposed to do when the Dragon made me an offer that would get rid of you permanently?" Jude told them. His entire body slowly started to have a visible aura of green, the most disgustingly dis-formed shade of green imaginable.

"What are you talking about boy!?" Artemis spat, she was close to assuming her divine form. She hadn't come this far in her life only to meet someone like Percy and then have him be killed off by a jealous little boy.

"You actually met the Dragon? Or was this just something you heard a voice tell you?" Percy asked, faltering down to one knee. Conquest ignored Jude, instead rushing to Percy's side. How could this have happened?

Artemis realized the reason that they hadn't been able to detect Jude's power or ill intent up until this point. Because all of the power that he was positively buzzing with, belonged to Percy. It all made sense to her. These random creatures that Percy had been mentioning, they all stood for his 'sins', and there was no way that this boy held that much power, not by a long shot considering that it was dwarfing hers to an almost comical level.

"No, I never met the Dragon, he told me what I had to do though, he also told me that I wouldn't be able to do it if anymore of you Horsemen showed up, so I had to play it just right," Jude grinned evilly, knowing that he held an upper hand. Percy was on a one way trip straight back to Hell with a binding spell INSIDE his chest.

"Conquest." Percy announced, using what little mortal strength was in the body to get back onto his feet. "Explain everything for me. I'm about to go and visit our old friend Lucy... And this time." He gasped for breath, knowing that there was only one way to survive.

"I'm breaking my seals." He announced. Artemis gasped behind him before trying to dive forwards to stop him but Conquest got in her way. He knew that this was something that Percy had to do for himself or it wouldn't work. He was the one who crafted their swords after all, it only made sense that he knew their capabilities if they were ever to be shoved through a Horseman's body.

Percy moved so fast that none of them witnessed him clearing the distance between Conquest and Jude. His actions were swift, precise and brutal. He ripped off the hand that held a knife to Annabeth's throat before shoving the daughter of Athena out of the way. Instead he picked Jude up by the neck before slamming him down on the swords that were protruding from his own chest. If Percy was going down, then he was bringing his treacherous brother with him. "Enochian seal; Sin of Envy, I release your power to be delivered to your master!"

A second later, the whole forest was filled with blinding light completely obscuring the sons of Poseidon from view. After it had faded, neither of them were there. Artemis gripped Conquest by the collar demanding that he tell her where Percy was.

She'd forgotten just who he was and was given a harsh reminder when he put his palm against the air, effortlessly pushing her away from him. For the first time since he'd appeared, he had an emotionless face, completely void of any cheerfulness or happiness that they once had.

"He's alive and he's fine. He broke the seal that his brother had willingly taken upon his soul. Unfortunately that means that Percy is once again full of his envy, luckily he never really did envy anyone in his life, it wasn't like him." Conquest explained, not really talking to anyone in particular.

He noticed the girl who was sobbing on the floor. That must have been the one who'd broken up with him all those years ago.

"Where exactly is he?" Thalia asked, being almost completely put off by the fact that Conquest was a spitting image of Apollo. Not nearly as annoying though which was a nice bonus.

"Those swords in his chest were enchanted with a particularly nasty spell. They would have sent Percy on a one way trip to Hell as a mortal, but seeing as he literally JUST broke the seal of Envy, all of the power he'd stored inside it has returned and in turn broken the spell. He's been sent to Hell, but he will not be a mortal, but rather once again the strongest Horseman." Conquest continued, looking expressionless the entire time. It was almost as if he was silently calculating his own plans.

Artemis was struggling to comprehend all of this at once and the campers were all torn between grief and shock. "Girls, it is you duty to ensure that the campers and Chiron are safe from a second attack, I must go." She announced before stalking towards the edge of the woods where the camp ground was.

"Where are you going Lady Artemis?" Conquest asked, tearing his gaze away from the ground in order to grace her with the manners of giving her his attention when asking something of her.

Artemis stopped for a moment, "I don't really know, but I can't stay here, not after what you've just told me." She issued, curious as to how one of Percy's fellow Horsemen would deal with something like this.

"Believe me when I say that there is really nothing that you can do save for venturing to Tartarus yourself and waiting for the moment he rips his way out of Hell and into that horrible underworld of yours." Conquest had no idea that telling her something like that would just implant ideas into her head, he really didn't, but on the other hand of things, if she'd decided to do something like that, he wouldn't stop her, in fact...

"Well then that's what I'll do. Percy is a great hero to us and despite him being able to handle himself, he doesn't deserve to be stuck in Tartarus any longer than necessary, and I'm sure as Hell not going to let him do it alone." Artemis boomed, unsure of exactly when her voice had started to rise but it apparently had no effect on Conquest anyway.

"Is that right? You value him a lot, don't you Lady Artemis?" It was just her and him, no one else was around to witness such a conversation take place, yet there was a moment of hesitation from the maiden Goddess.

"So much more than I should, Conquest." She finally admitted, there it was. It had taken Percy Jackson a matter of days to break through Artemis' somewhat misandryist views, and for the first time in her life she was glad that it had happened, glad that there was finally someone to prove her wrong.

"Good, then I'm going with you." Conquest smiled for the first time in a while, "I've always wanted to see if Tartarus has changed much." He continued, leaving Artemis to stand there with a slack jaw. Were ALL of the Horsemen as uncaring about danger as Conquest and Percy were? Or perhaps Conquest, like Percy, had been through years of torture and no longer found pain having any negative effects on them. That seemed quite likely knowing Percy.

"Fine, then you may as well come with me to Olympus, I'll be asking Hades to take me as far as he can go, after I tell Poseidon what's happened that is. Behave yourself in the presence of the Gods." Artemis warned him. She wasn't sure what to expect after her suspicions about him being Apollo's son had been destroyed, she knew he could full well still turn out to be an idiot joker, just an EXTREMELY powerful one.

With a serious nod of agreement he straightened up before looking puzzled, "Err, is Olympus still in Greece or does it move around? Because I remember that happening with a number of civilizations that had Gods in other galaxies." Artemis sighed, he sure could talk just as much as Apollo. She grabbed his shoulder and flashed the both of them to Olympus before the Horseman could ramble another word.

 **LINE BREAK; TALK TO ME GOOSE!**

There was nothing. Nothing but a mile wide tunnel that he found himself free-falling in. Jude was falling with him, or he was for most of it before Percy got angry and glided towards his younger brother and forcefully threw him down the hole even further.

There was only one way to get into Hell from the outside world and it was almost entirely impossible unless you had some degree of hydrokinesis, or like the two of them, were sons of Poseidon. Hell itself was a closed off domain with only a twenty meter tunnel hidden at the base of the river Cocytus.

The water that flowed and leaked down through Hell from that one closed off tunnel formed the frozen lake at the base of Hell itself. The lake was a giant prison for the most dangerous prisoner that ever needed to be incarcerated. Lucifer.

Finally Percy could see some light, and it was starting too look all too familiar. That little spell wasn't just sending him to Hell, but rather right down to the frozen lake itself. Lucifer must have been itching to meet him again, this time would go even worse for the fallen Angel than the first time.

This time Percy was immortal and much stronger. Before the Horseman had reached the point of impact, he surged his old power to be received throughout his body evenly before willing his wings to erupt from his back and slow his descent. He didn't really feel like cracking the ice and giving his enemy a head start on his plans.

"Death." A terrible voice echoed throughout the cavernous place, his mere voice causing the ice to tremble beneath Percy's feet. What else did he expect? Lucifer had stolen Percy's most powerful seal and become the Dragon's sin of Wrath. He of course had been able to tap into a small amount of the power in that seal, but a small amount was all that was really needed to orchestrate his plans from the safety of the lake.

The frozen lake Cocytus was a prison, no doubt about that, but it held an ancient spell on it preventing anyone with considerable power from force ably breaking Lucifer free, and that worked both ways when Lucifer was the weaker of the two beings on the opposite sides of the ice.

Percy decided to show off. He had been forced back into Hell for whatever Lucifer was planning with him, why not try and exhibit some of that which made his claim as Death indisputable. "Lucifer." He responded, barely a whisper but yet he held so much compressed power within that one name that when it had been uttered out of his mouth, the entire cavern shook twice as violently as when the fallen Angel had bellowed out.

"What do you want you wretched Angel? Because if there's nothing important, then I'll be on my way." Percy commented sarcastically, his huge black feathery wings were ambivalently creating small gusts of wind, unsure of whether they wanted to stay grounded or soar up into the heights of Hell and break through the very bedrock.

"You know I'm a stickler for reunions Death but unfortunately I can't do much from down here, there is someone else that's itching to have a go at you." Lucifer started to give off a malicious laugh before something slammed down into the ice a small distance away from Percy.

"My, who knew that you had so much pride Perseus? It's made our darling little Archangel here quite powerful." Lucifer continued. The milky dust from the icy cleared to show Uriel standing tall, her eyes humming with pure brilliant energy, Percy's energy.

"I don't want to do this Death, but you have far too much power in these seals, I could not overcome my... 'Master'. He has commanded me to do this." Uriel stated before her beautiful white eyes turned solid black. So she was being held against her will? Such was the power Lucifer was capable of with Percy's seal of Wrath.

Uriel brandished a long white halberd that looked very handle at cutting people up from a distance. He'd made a mental note to stay away from the business end of that halberd... Forever.

"You're very confident if you think that Uriel can kill me, Lucifer. Even with one of my own seals, it would take about thirty of them." Percy slowly cracked a smile. This was the first chance for him to exercise all of that power without worrying about hurting anyone. He'd regret it if he'd have to kill Uriel but he knew straight away that inside that mind of hers, she was watching as a prisoner, and she'd want him to kill her rather than to be a solider for Lucifer.

"You're bluffing Horseman." The fallen Angel issued, though he sounded unsure of himself, or rather, he desperately hoped that Percy was bluffing.

"Maybe, I guess you're about to find out." He laughed jovially. He had no idea where the Hell Jude had fallen or been thrown at, but he no longer cared. The boy was just another Iscariot that hadn't wasted any time sticking two swords through Percy's back in a bid for power.

Uriel spared no more time apologizing and instead rushed forwards, her feet hanging just under a foot above the ice as her body cleaved through the air. She struck down with that big halberd of hers but hit nothing. He was there just a second before and then as if playing around with her, he'd moved with such fluidity and ease that her own suspicions had been confirmed. She was still no where near his power level, but that didn't mean she could just drop her weapon and leave, she had orders, and despite hating those orders, she couldn't fight against them, not with Lucifer literally a hundred meters underneath the ice. His will was strong in this place, and hers was not.

She felt the lightest of touches on her shoulder, garnering her attention to it she saw Percy with a sad smile on show before he let his fist loose upon her face, decking her so hard that she slammed into the ice, sending cracks careening all around it. Unfortunately that wouldn't be enough to break through said ice and simply destroy Lucifer then and there, it would always repair itself proportionately to the damage dealt.

Uriel coughed up a thick white substance that Percy knew to be Angel's blood. He'd hit her with a hollow point of impact, hoping that the shock waves would bounce around inside her with minimal damage and instead break the seal inside. Apparently it hadn't worked though.

"You must have done something to have been allowed entrance to this place, which means that if I send you on your way to Death's door, no pun intended, then I can personally absolve you and keep a hold of my seal which was forced upon you." Percy muttered, more to himself than anything else. Lucifer let out an inhuman scream.

This could NOT be happening. How could Death have picked his plan apart with such ease? What was more worrying was how he had absolutely dominated the sin of Pride with just one punch before figuring out a way to not only get his seal back but to save the damned Angel's measly life as well.

Percy initially did none of that, instead laying his fist into Uriel one more time for good measure before picking her up by the armor and holding her up with one hand. Strong physical body, immeasurably strength of power.

"Feel Death's cold embrace." He whispered as he held Uriel even higher but before he got a chance to do anything he felt a pang of energy shot inside his head and ricochet over everything inside, causing him to drop Uriel entirely.

What in Hades was that? It felt like a missile had just been fired into his ear. Uriel took this chance and the ground erupted in a blast of ice and wind as she left the deepest bowels of Hell within an instant, no longer on Percy's radar anymore. Gingerly feeling around his ear he managed to let his hand fall upon an entire arrow that had been shot into his head.

"Ow!" He cursed, oblivious to the one that had fired the arrow. After he ripped it out and repaired his ear in a matter of seconds, he turned his focus to the perpetrator.

Jude was standing there, terrified with a bow in his hands. "Dammit kid, just how much are you willing to do to prove you're the most treacherous scum bag history has ever seen, I mean come on!" Percy ranted before fading and appearing right behind Jude, grabbing him by the neck. This was it, Uriel was gone and Lucifer had been silent for quite some time.

Percy wasn't going to leave Jude in Hell, no, he'd dominated Hell within years of being there, so he knew for a fact that the other son of Poseidon wouldn't be that helpless, instead, he brought him with him. Admittedly, Percy was carrying the boy in hand by the neck but that didn't matter, he was a cursed soul now, and his next destination was none other than Tartarus.

Percy's beautiful black wings needed no written invitation before they pushed both boys forwards faster than a jet engine, covering the distance skyward so much faster than they had been whilst falling. It had taken them minutes before Percy had launched Jude's body through the ceiling entrance to river Cocytus.

Time flowed slower in Tartarus than it did in the mortal world, and time in Hell was even slower than Tartarus, so they had no idea what was waiting for them when both boys finally did get out of the mouth of Hell and back into the arse of Tartarus.

It wasn't entirely unpleasant for Percy though.

 **Line Break. I'm not an alpaca either... While they ARE cute and adorable, they can't write...**

The first thing that Conquest noticed was that while they were most certainly on Olympus, which was a beautiful city by the way, that actually, everything in this city and the city itself was just in a pocket dimension hovering above Manhattan. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

"OK, follow me and try not to insult any Gods. I know that if you're anywhere near as powerful as Percy then you could probably wipe them all out simply by raising your hand, but it's important." Artemis told him quickly. He laughed at even needing a hand to erase everything on this cloud. It was in his very nature to take things by force and make them cease to exist, he was definitely the second most powerful Horseman, despite needing fewer seals that War. He just had a better handle on it.

"With respect Lady Artemis, I wouldn't need so much as a thought to his this cloud with the force of ten nuclear explosions. At his full power, none of his power sealed away, Percy could wipe out this entire world and everything on it in about thirty hours in one singular movement." Conquest told her. Artemis stopped walking entirely and just stood staring at Conquest with wide eyes and a slacked jaw.

"Ma'am, you're going to start catching flies like that. Let's keep moving, the sooner we please your idiotic council, the sooner we can go and rescue my brother." Conquest told her with a light smile before walking past the still stunned Artemis.

The whole world, thirty hours, THAT was how powerful Percy was? It was overwhelming and incredible at the same time. Artemis got the feeling that these Horsemen answered to another, one that she had only heard about from time to time.

Mostly because Thalia had asked her about a name that they had uttered among themselves after Artemis had passed out because of the whole TWO APOLLO'S thing that had happened with Conquest.

They'd mentioned Chaos, supposedly in the world of primordial Gods and Goddesses there was one above all of them with no set gender, just a preference of whatever culture or civilization of the world she'd be inhabiting at the time. None of that was important at the moment though, Artemis had to run to catch up to Conquest who was effortlessly pushing the grand throne room doors open and strutting inside like he owned the place.

"Who dares to breach my throne room uninvited!?" Zeus boomed, already on his feet and brandishing a volatile bolt of lightning that was forking in and around his body. He'd gotten a lot stronger recently due to actually training himself up, something that nobody knew the reasons why, but it wasn't really spoken about either. He was undisputed as the king of the Gods, or at least the Olympians and Greek Gods allying themselves with Olympus, and that was fine by him and them.

Conquest just carried on walking, hands in his pockets as casually as he could. He was going to do everything that Artemis had told him NOT to do, and she was so aware of it now. She couldn't even do anything to stop it. Appearing in her father's fight with a huge sigh, she managed to stop Zeus' attempted slaughter for at least a few seconds.

"Yo." Conquest waved, getting the thunder God's attention back on himself. "My name is Conquest, I'm Percy's brother, I'm going to go and jump into Tartarus and pull him through it..." There was nothing but silence as every God, Artemis included, just stared in stunned silence at the Horseman. How the Hell did he manage to have such an abruptness in the face of a God.

Reluctantly Zeus' bolt returned to nothing but static in the air surrounding the God himself. "Apollo if this is some kind of sick joke I'll throw you into Tartarus regardless!" Zeus boomed.

No more than a second later a confused looking sun God flashed into the throne room, "Hey, somebody call me?" He asked, oblivious to Conquest's presence. After a few seconds of no response, Apollo finally noticed the bored Horseman.

"Oh hey buddy, what are you doing on Olympus?" Apollo began. Zeus watched intently. How was it that there was this lone man that his twins knew of?

After a while, EVERYTHING that needed explaining, had been put in the open, and every Olympian was now aware of Percy's power situation as well as who Conquest was. Hephaestus had made a few comments about collaborating on a piece of work, which was surprising to most people, but Conquest agreed none the less. From what he remembered, Hephaestus didn't really have that much company even from the likes of his own family, both Godly and mortal, or half mortal, but that wasn't the point.

"So you and my daughter are going to traverse Tartarus just to walk Percy out. It seems hardly necessary considering how strong he is." Zeus argued, sitting back against his throne, certain that he'd missed something. He wasn't against the idea of sending Percy as much aid as he could, but the boy WAS Death, there seemed to be a line in the sand that only Zeus could see. He was certain that there had to be a limit for how much Tartarus and Hell could do to a Horseman before it simply ceased to have any effect at all. And why Artemis of all people? So Percy had met with her once or twice but now the girl was acting like they were best friends.

Zeus sighed, knowing that nothing was ever going to be easy. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't ignore the obvious truth forever, but that was something that could at least wait until all of this had blown over completely. Perhaps he'd seek council from his wife on the matter. He might not admit it, but on the rare occasions when he needed to ask her, she'd tell him what she truly thought about things, and he'd always listened.

"Fine, fine, fine!" He gave in at last, "I'll give you both leave to go, not that you needed it that much. You may have whatever additional help you seek so long as those overseeing it agree." Zeus finally told them. Conquest just shrugged, he could have skipped all of this and been halfway through Hell by now.

"Um, OK. Lady Artemis, shall we go?" Conquest turned towards Artemis' throne but she wasn't even there. With a confused scratch of his head he turned around fully to see both Artemis and that gloomy emo dude, Hades, standing behind him. He'd forgotten that Hades had offered to take them to the edge of Tartarus, from there it would be their own choice to jump in and search for Percy.

They had all agreed to let Artemis go pretty easily, or maybe Conquest just thought that they'd put up more of a fight when it involved Tartarus of all places. It WAS truly a horrible place to be, not even a Horseman would compare it to a walk in the park... Or maybe it WAS just like a walk in a park, but there were only four Horsemen, there were billions of other souls and creatures that could all be sentenced to a horrifying life of torture in Tartarus.

Hades gave them a short good luck once they'd arrived, "Thanks Marilyn Manson." Conquest smirked at the angry God of the underworld. Artemis gave him a short glare.

"You can't remember ninety five percent of things from mortal history in it's entirely except for their silly music?" It was rhetorical and Artemis really hadn't wanted an answer from him, but she got one regardless.

He walked over to the very edge a strange pull attacking at his heels, just egging him on. Luckily he was daring to be stupid and willingly jumping in anyway. "Metal isn't silly, it fucking rocks, and I fucking rock! Not as much as Death though." Conquest sighed.

"Wait what?" Artemis was caught off guard by the little last line.

"You heard me silver Goddess!" Conquest grinned as he turned to face her before pushing his center of gravity well into the huge maw of the hole that shot straight down into Tartarus. "Death shreds a mean riff of a guitar!" She heard his voice bellow before fading.

She cursed that idiot Horseman before jumping in after him. It had taken her ten seconds before she caught up to him in the surrounding darkness, glowing lightly, holding his hands behind his head and relaxing against the rushing winds of their terminal velocity.

"I'm really starting to hate you!" She had to shout to be heard over the sound of wind screaming past their bodies and face, muffling her voice expertly well.

"Yeah I know, I have that effect on a lot of people." He shrugged, "Would you like me to summon my horse?" He asked her with a smug grin. She wasn't even sure if he was serious or not, but that was soon answered when his posture changed and he was now falling with his feet down and his arms spread wide to help shift the force of impact should they land abruptly. With a click of his fingers, a beautiful ebony bow appeared on his back. Of course, Conquest just HAD to be an archer like herself and that idiot brother that he looked so much like. If he was a Horseman, he was possibly a better shot though.

Out of the very rocks themselves that the two of them had been falling adjacent to, a brilliant white horse had erupted, more light than Aethera was billowing from this angry steed's nostrils as it verticall pounded down the walls of Tartarus. With incredible dexterity, Conquest had shifted onto the horse, both of them looking far more at ease with the comfort of one another.

"I'm not getting on that thing!" Artemis shouted. Truthfully she was terrified and her sentence was only cemented when the horse slowly turned it's head and glared at her.

"That's OK, I can summon another. We'll be needing him anyway." Conquest's evil grin only grew in size as his hand glowed a very dark color, almost black. Out of the rocks, right underneath her a raven horse broke through the walls of Tartarus and continued to run vertically down at dizzying speeds. She knew exactly who's horse this was, but she swore he had a set of wings as well, after all, wasn't he a pegasus?

"I believe you're acquainted?" Blackjack laughed through his reins at the terminology used. Yeah they were acquainted, she was the Boss' latest romantic interest of course. Though that was hush hush around the various galaxies that Blackjack had been to recently.

Deciding that Blackjack was a far-sight better than that white Hell-horse that Conquest was riding on, she reached down and gave Percy's horse an appreciative pat to which he neighed in response. He'd keep her safe for the Boss' sake.

"I thought you both hated each other?" Artemis felt so much better now that she wasn't merely falling, but riding very fast down a completely vertical drop into Tartarus.

"Nope, he gave me my mask back." The Horseman responded, pulling his empty hand down over his face, only to have an awe inspiring white mask form over his face moments later. Without any further words, he pushed his steed on with an incredible burst of speed. Blackjack didn't need any further encouragement to do the same, they were all there to walk Percy out after all.

 **A/N: Yeah I'm back. Don't expect constant updates like last time though, I had a rare burst of inspiration that seemed to do me well. I've got a LOT planned, so I'm just going to take it slow and steady and see what my semi-decent writer's mind can come up with.**

 **As usual, a review would be highly appreciated.**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	7. Chapter 7 - Run From Death

**Chapter 7 – Run From Death**

Artemis and Conquest finally reached the floor of Tartarus. Floor was subjective, it was more like an unending carpet of glass shards all constantly moving around in an attempt to rip apart the feet of any who stood there. Luckily neither of the horses felt it at all, they were simply too tough.

Blackjack cantered on ahead, having a special link with his master that not even Tartarus could break. "We have to rely on Blackjack from here. The river Cocytus starts in Hades but reappears in Tartarus in a seemingly random location." Conquest shouted over to her. They had landed a small distance apart from one another but with these supreme steeds that wasn't really a problem.

The only problem that Conquest actually had was that now he'd summoned Death's horse, the thing couldn't commence a phantom travel with anyone other than Death on his back, so they would have to literally ride over everything Tartarus threw at them terrain-wise, but that was fine, it wouldn't take them that long, not with THESE horses.

They had settled into a comfortable silence, what with the only one Artemis COULD understand being Conquest, she'd happily avoided any conversation that would cause her brain cells to start committing mass suicide. In fairness to the Horseman, she didn't doubt that he had his own very high degree of intelligence packed away somewhere inside that head of his, she was just also convinced that he was almost entirely crazy, either that or he just did not care one little bit what happened to him on the grand scale of things.

After some time of them riding across the hostile plane of Tartarus, Artemis couldn't help but ask about that name she'd heard when Conquest had first appeared. "Conquest?" She broke the silence, effectively getting the tanned Horseman to gaze her way through that intimidating white mask of his.

"Wayward son, by Kansas." He said almost immediately, throwing Artemis' focus completely. What the Hell was he talking about? She could tell almost immediately that the idiot was smiling underneath that emotionless mask. "My favorite song, or was that not what you were going to ask?" His tone suggested that he was trying very hard not to laugh.

She scowled at him, no, of course that wasn't what she was going to ask him, the idiot. "When you first appeared at the demi-god camp, you mentioned getting some orders from... Well, I just wondered, is that THE C-"

"Yes Lady Artemis, that one. Let us not speak her name, she'd be awfully displeased with me if she ever found out I allowed Death to be subjected to Tartarus again." Conquest told her in what was almost a whisper. So there was at least one thing that he feared, though she got the feeling that despite Conquest's own personal feelings towards her, that Percy himself more than likely didn't hold any fear of any sentient beings, not from the way that he had claimed to be the one to reap every God's soul himself.

"What was the old Death like?" Artemis asked after a few more minutes of silence had reigned over them. This caught Conquest's attention rather well, he didn't offer an answer for a moment while he decided on how best to answer that question.

"Well, he was cold, and held no emotion. All of us Horsemen are what you'd call third generation primordial Gods. The ones that you know of as the elements and such are second generation primordials, and the Lady of creation, Death himself and the Void were the only first generation primordials. There was nothing before, just them, all co-existing with nothing in between. Think three clouds constantly dispersing around each other, that was what this universe consisted of." Conquest told her, bringing an enlightened view.

"Oh, on that note I should probably warn you that now Death had revived one of his seals, what you called his 'divine' form will finally be his true form, something that I'm to understand you are yet to see." Conquest continued. Artemis looked at him sharply, Percy had lied to her yet again about his power? Well, not exactly, this was his true form that they were talking about. She swore she'd seen it while they were fighting above the clouds.

"Strong skeletal wings and a shrouded face of darkness, you're telling me that ISN'T his true form?" She was mortified, the thing she'd fought against had been scary enough, just what was his true form going to look like.

She couldn't help herself, but in the time she had to silently gather her thoughts while they rode through Tartarus to find the base of Cocytus to find Percy, she was allowing her thoughts to travel to places that she never thought she'd be caught dead thinking about, it wasn't even anything smutty, she was just thinking about them, both of them.

What had caught her attention about him as a boy? Nothing in particular, he was just another demi-god of prophecy, but it was the way he carried it all out. She'd met him for the first time when she and her hunt had been tracking doctor Thorn who in turn was hunting for Nico D'Angelo, just as Percy was.

Things had quickly unraveled from there, the way that Percy had selflessly tried to prevent Zoe from going up that mountain, and after he'd jammed a knife in Atlas' neck, he'd left the fight, abandoned it not because he didn't want to fight, but because he'd killed Zoe, and no one should have fought that battle in her place except for Artemis, Zoe's closest friend. So that was the first memories that Artemis had of him, but what was the greatest?

At this point, despite how he'd turned her world upside down, he'd done it with just a few days among her hunters and her. The best thing she could think of was that special smile he'd given her when she'd finally agreed to fight him. The look of joy and triumph across his face, it was identical to the smile he wore when she'd finally toppled him and they'd come crashing down into the middle of her campsite. The thrill of the fight, to be ABLE to fight someone without fear of killing them. In that moment, they had shared a bond with one another, a very sacred bond that went beyond words. They'd become incredible friends after transcending weapons and going straight to martial arts in the sky, each of them holding enough power in their fists to crumble and shatter the earth's surface.

They'd come such a long way in such a short time, there was absolutely no way that she'd let him go. "Yes." Conquest told her, bringing her out of her solemn reverie about Percy, "That's a form of his, but only one he'd assumed under common misconception of what Death looks like. His true form isn't as fear inducing through traditional means. He looks badass though." Once again, Artemis knew for a fact that the all-powerful man-child was grinning underneath that mask.

Conquest was a very peculiar case, one that she wasn't actually sure on her perception of, not yet. He had intelligence though it was seemingly held back, the idiocy merely a facade that Artemis could see through easily.

Perhaps it was actually just a pattern that she could see emerging here. Were ALL of the Horsemen subjected to horrendous things in their past lives, things that they had been forced to try and hide with poorly constructed facades of humor?

Blackjack was the one to speak up this time, metaphorically. He pulled Artemis over to yet another cliff edge, below them a raging river that reached a dead end, though beneath the waters there was a light source, sparkling vibrantly. "Funny." Conquest chuckled, "I thought the mouth to Hell would have been a bit more fiery, unless..." He trailed off. Artemis didn't like the sound of that.

"Unless what?" She almost demanded. Conquest's steed cantered on the spot for a moment. There was a pressure building up from beneath them.

"Unless that river goes straight down to ol' Lucy." Conquest continued, that name, whilst an insult from Conquest, still sent a shiver down her spine. She never expected that the religions that had pushed the Gods away all those centuries ago would have gotten it at least half right. There was no one God, but there was definitely a big bad wolf lying below the surface just waiting to tempt the mortal souls to come into his house.

"So that's where Percy's is going to come out." She mused. Blackjack whinnied once again, before he galloped over the side of the cliff, seemingly content with falling from that height.

"Hey, have you noticed how we've come this far and nothing has bothered to attack us?" Conquest asked her, dismounting his horse and looking around expectantly. Artemis wasn't sure what she was expecting, but NOTHING was definitely not it.

"Huh, I kinda thought that would have goaded something or other to happen," Just as he was saying that there was an ear shattering roar overhead as a drakon started to rapidly scale up and down the cliff face they'd just bounded down, "Oh there we go. And FINALLY!" He exasperated in extreme exaggeration, "I was starting to get bored. Can't visit Tartarus and not have at least one fight." He giggled, pulling his bow free.

"Go wild hunny." Conquest told his horse who then proceeded to give a terrifying show of power. The steed reared up on it's hind hooves and let loose a near hurricane of billowing white smoke before dashing around the base of the cliff, seemingly happy enough to just run around.

There it was again, complete and utter randosity. Artemis just couldn't work Conquest out no matter how hard she tried, and it was starting make her head ache something awful because of it. She pulled her bow free and waited for a good shot, but found that she just didn't need to.

This was where Conquest was at his best, he fired arrows of brilliant light, the force of a thousand suns packed behind each shot. She realized this when the first arrow his it's target, an explosion was unleashed within it's own compression field, just a bubble of white light that had blown whole chunks out of the drakon.

It was never going to be as easy as it would in the mortal world though, this was where all monsters came to be reborn and this was without a doubt the place that they were at their utmost strongest. Deciding that this was his time to have a little fun, she kept a watchful eye on the river and any monsters that would dare to try and sneak up on them from across the waters.

Her thoughts quickly traveled south, where was he? She needed him back so badly. She heard a massive explosion, but didn't need to look at the source to see what it was as there were bloody chunks raining down everywhere, most of it hitting the river.

"Did you hear what that jackass said?" Conquest walked over, putting his bow back into it's resting place. Blackjack whinnied, a somewhat fearful look in his eye. There was something seriously bad about to go down if Blackjack was worried, especially now that he was considered one of the most powerful horses in existence.

"Gaea has risen and is fighting a war against your demi-god camps, yes both of them. She's sided with Tartarus, which is frankly VERY bad news for us, because, you know, we're in Tartarus." He didn't exactly need to add that last part, she'd gotten the gist. It was especially bad news for Artemis because while she WAS an Olympian, Tartarus was an especially malevolent primordial with extreme capabilities to his power and their applications.

Something else quickly tore their attention away from thoughts of Tartarus and Gaea, the eruption of a body breaking the sound barrier underwater. A treacherous son of Poseidon was thrown out of the depths of the Cocytus and onto the rough ground at their feet. He was quickly followed by another son of Poseidon casually walking out of the murky depths with an angry expression written on his face.

He was positively pulsing with dark energy that was forming rivulets around his body as if it was water flowing across his skin. "It takes time for him to assume his true form but make no mistakes, THAT is what's happening." Conquest whispered. Despite it being merely a whisper, it was enough to alert Percy to their presence. His eyes left Jude's panting body and settled firmly on the silver gaze of the hunter who had been subconsciously hunting his heart.

"Artemis, I-" That was all he managed to do before Artemis had pulled him by the collar into her. She smashed her lips against his, determined not to let this rare chance go to waste. She HAD to let him know exactly what it was that she needed to tell him before he stupidly went and got himself sent to Hell.

She believed that this got her point across perfectly. When she finally decided to give him his lips back, her knuckles were white from holding his coat and she didn't let up, instead resting her head against his chest. "We need to talk." She whispered with a grunt, slamming her fist down on his chest weakly. How did he have this much of an effect on her? It wasn't fair! She was the one who had to act like there was nothing there, he just had to carry on being him, which just made it all so much worse!

"Um, now might be a bad time, but we kind of have a problem." Percy followed Conquest's iron gaze to their supposed problem.

"Oh shit." He announced under his breath. THAT was definitely not good.

 **Line Break.** **Skit är på väg att gå ner ... Yo.**

There he stood, the chief executioner of sorts, in his hellish red suit, holding that ugly cane in his hands looking expectently at Percy, seemingly ignoring everyone else.

'Yo Boss, is that who I think it is?' Blackjack asked, backing up a few steps. Percy merely nodded, a protective hand subconciously flittered over the back of Artemis' head who was still for the most part snuggled against his chest.

"Inmate four eight five nine. I never thought I'd see the day that you returned to us." Tartarus grinned from the other side of the river.

"It's been many cycles since I was an inmate, I brought you a new prisoner if you'd take him." Percy announced, shocking Artemis and Conquest equally. Percy, still humming with power, effortlessly threw Jude over the distance of the Cocytus. The treacherous son of Poseidon rolled to a stop at Tartarus' feet. The primordial looked down with disgust.

"There is no doubt that this stain belongs here, but he is nothing compared to you four eight five nine." Tartarus announced, pointing a charred finger at Percy who instinctively pulled Artemis behind him protectively. She hated it, but she could see the sad truth behind it. He wasn't doing it because he thought she was too weak or unable to defend herself, he was doing it out of instinct because it had been drilled into his head too many times that when Tartarus pointed at you, bad things were coming.

After a moment of nothing happening, Tartarus looked at his hand in confusion. "You can't have gotten that much stronger since we last had fun dear Perseus." Tartarus muttered.

This was it, what everyone had been waiting for. "That's because I am no longer merely Perseus... My name..." He began as he walked forwards, urging everyone else to stay put.

His body was engulfed in white light, much the same as it was when he'd been stabbed by the Horsemen's swords. This time, when it faded, there was still someone standing there, though apart from the face and hair, it looked so different. He was wearing a long leather coat, with incredibly detailed ornate silver stithcing over the shoulders and lapels. He wore midnight colored leather hunting trousers that tucked beautifully into some very well fitting leather boots. It was light and mobile and Artemis believed that it would give him a lot of protection considering it was HIM that was wearing it. He wore no shirt or anything underneath, making his incredibly lean body visible to any and all who would lay their eyes on him.

"Is Death." He announced before appearing a mere foot away from Tartarus, both of them sizing one another up. A shadow was cast out from Tartarus in an attempt for him to assert dominance, but all it served to do was illuminate Percy further, or more specifically, the shadow of his large wings that now rest beyong the visibility of the naked eye.

"That... Is his true form." Conquest whispered.

 **A/N: OK, you guys wanted faster updates, because apparently thirty two thousand words in eight days was too slow, so now you get chapters half as long. See how that works?**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	8. Chapter 8 - This Means War

**Chapter 8 – This Means War**

"Ooh, I'm positively frightened down to my shoals!" Tartarus mocked Percy right to his face, not a feat that many lived to tell about, but even Percy had to admit that Tartarus was no push over. He was a second generation primordial, and very possibly the strongest of the bunch, and definitely the most malicious.

"You would dare to mock me?" Percy asked him quietly. His voice alone was a very powerful tool that when used correctly, could hush the rioting plains of oblivion. Tartarus grinned, getting a great rise out of pushing Death around.

"Of course I dare to mock you. You may believe yourself to be someone all powerful, but honestly, I'm not in that much danger, not when I have someone who claims to be under your guidance, chained up at my command." Tartarus' eyes blazed hotter than the fiery orbs of Ares in that one moment where he believed himself to have gained something over Percy.

"You did WHAT!?" The sheer magnitude of Percy's voice raged throughout the depths of Tartarus, it's wrath was unlike anything any of them except for Conquest had ever seen before.

"Huh, strange, didn't think he'd be able to do that without breaking the seal of Wrath." Conquest muttered, more to himself than anyone else but Artemis still heard him. She looked between Conquest and Percy before deciding that she had a sound conclusion in the Horsemen being exceptionally weird, and from what she'd gathered so far, she desperately wished to not meet the other two.

"That's right, I've got Thanatos chained up in Alaska, the land beyond the Gods, so think very carefully on what you're going to try and do. The doors of Death are open down here and all of Gaea's forces are leaving as they please. There's a war coming Perseus Jackson, and you're in the middle of it." It seemed that Tartarus' speech was REALLY getting underneath Percy's skin.

His eyes were suddenly replaced by volatile black smoke that poured out of the side of his face before rising upwards. He was exceeding his body's full capacity for power, effectively draining the seal that held his wrath, all the way from Hell.

"I hope you're ready to see the void Tartarus." Percy told him, his voice making a loud statement, but one that they could see him being clearly capable of, especially when he swiped his arm to the right, ripping reality apart just to pull out a beautiful silver scythe.

That was it, the reaper was complete. Artemis could finally see it, wings of shadows, all black from heat to toe including his eyes which currently held no traces of those beautiful sea green eyes that she adored so much, this was the true face of Death, and he was angry.

"Come now inmate four eight five nine, do you truly believe yourself to be strong enough to kill me in my own domain? Do not be a fool!" This time is was Tartarus' turn to be angered. To think that one such as Perseus Jackson could ever destroy him? The Lord of the lost, the primordial of the pit itself.

There was definitely something different about the boy, his smell no longer reflected that of a once poor tortured demi-god, no, he really wasn't lying about being Death, there was only one whose scent smelled like that, but he'd quite idiotically sealed his power away for reasons unknown to Tartarus, and his current power was not going to cut it, not down here where Tartarus held all of the cards.

"Perhaps I can't send you to the void like this." Percy admitted, his scythe and the black smoke from his eyes faded from view completely. "But make no mistake Tartarus, I can definitely banish you from my presence, and I can command the doors of death closed. Now begone you smelly peasant!" Percy demanded, holding his hand up in a strange way before it glowed a deep blue. Tartarus snarled, about to launch another tirade of insults at Percy but he exploded in a shower of flames.

"Percy..." Artemis got his attention, mounting Blackjack as the raven horse carrier her safely over the Cocytus. The Horseman looked over to the one who had stolen his interest. "You just called Tartarus a smelly peasant, perhaps we should get out of here as soon as possible." She reasoned with him.

Percy gave her a tired smile before turning to Conquest. The two Horsemen gave one another a fist bump before Percy mounted Blackjack just behind Artemis. If anyone was to tell her mere days ago that she'd be here in Tartarus, on the same horse as Percy Jackson and desperately wanting to straddle him before assaulting him with kisses, then she'd have definitely killed whoever had told her that, but here she was, lusting for him in such a mild way yet something that was completely unlike her. The three of them quickly rode towards where Percy KNEW the doors of Death were. After that, he had something to do in Alaska, namely the freeing of Thanatos.

He was yet to meet the God of Death and wondered how that particular conversation would go, he just hoped that Thanatos wouldn't be too insulted by his presence, though Tartarus had mentioned him looking towards Percy for guidance so perhaps it wouldn't be that bad, especially if Percy was going there to free him.

 **Line Break. You guys rock, anyone ever tell you that?**

"Ma'am, you should look at this." A measly servant walked up to her brandishing a bright piece of parchment in his hands. A very ornate wax seal held the paper closed. The woman on the throne gazed at him for a moment before deciding that she wasn't interested in him, he wasn't that good looking or that young either.

She nodded, accepting the letter before casually ripping it open. Her chocolate eyes scanned the words, not all of it immediately making sense before it all finally clicked and she burst into laughter. "Is there something wrong with the letter ma'am?" The servant asked her.

It took minutes at the very least before she finally calmed down enough to answer him, "Oh no, there's nothing wrong, it's just my idiot brothers have somehow gotten themselves back in Tartarus. I'm sure they can deal with this on their own, they are both big boys after all... Especially our Death." Famine grinned lustfully, swiping a few loose strands of her brunette hair out of her eyes.

"I don't believe I'm familiar with this, Tartarus." The servant began as he cleaned up the mess Famine had made with the letter, accidentally ripping it to shreds whilst in a fit of laughter was something that she did quite often, too often for the servant's liking.

"It's a pit of eternal punishment. But they are fine, especially considering Death has finally re-awoken after these past few years having been portioned and sealed away. I wonder if he's back rocking the full leathers or whether he's ditched it for something else." Famine mused to herself. She waved her servant away before leaving her small throne room. She'd been gifted a very small palace in honor of her saving her home world of Arterius.

She needed to meet with the one who had sent the letter anyway, so she figured she could kill two birds with one stone, especially if War was there when she arrived, that would be a bonus. Off to Chaos' plateau at the edge of the universe. It would take her several days of riding to finally reach it but if the boss lady wanted to see her, then she wasn't in a position to deny her of that.

 **Line Break. I figured you might want to meet Famine eventually. But that's all for now.**

'Yo, Boss, you know what would make this ride easier?' Blackjack piped up, breaking the silence that had fallen over all of them.

"And what would that be?" Percy asked, unsure of whether or not he really wanted to know. Artemis held the reins ever so slightly tighter but it had gone unnoticed by Blackjack.

'Dare! Dare to believe you can survive!' Percy groaned before letting his face fall into the crook of Artemis' neck. She let out a slight gasp at the unexpected contact but overall she quite enjoyed it, especially when he continued to groan letting his hot breath blow over her exposed skin.

"You hold the future in your hands!" Conquest happily sung along, this time making Artemis groan. She cared much less when she couldn't understand, but between Blackjack and Conquest; Conquest was the idiot that spoke her language.

'You're both idiots.' Conquest's horse told them, promptly ignoring them all, much like Percy and Artemis wished they could. Luckily they had finally arrived where they needed to be. The doors of death. To their surprise, they could see a vast sea of swarming monsters all clambering to try and escape through the doors.

"Oh hey, look, freedom." Percy pointed half-assedly, dismounting Blackjack shortly after. This was one of those things that he planned on getting Artemis out of within the shortest amount of time.

"When it all goes down, you all leave at the first chance you get, am I understood?" He asked them, not bothering to look back.

"Like Hell I'm leaving you to deal with that alone. I willingly came down here, to a place where I'm far more vulnerable than you, yes, but I did so willingly so that I could walk you out of this pit myself, so do not treat me like a child Perseus." Artemis told him. He could tell that there was no way around it, this was just how it was going to be.

"Sorry bro, but your lady friend is right. In it till the end for a fellow Horseman." Conquest agreed, pulling his mask down low over his face and slapping his horse's flank to get her to run into the midst of the monsters and out of the doors of Death.

"Fine, then stand back a ways so that I can fix that little door problem." Percy announced, cracking his knuckled and running head first into the hordes, choosing to use nothing but his raw power and fists to demolish everything that was brave enough to get in his way. Between him and the two archers covering his flank, it hadn't taken long at all for them to kill their way to the doors.

"Percy, we need to figure out how to close the... Doors of death." Artemis figured out half way through saying it. Percy turned to her, giving her that almost feral toothy grin before snapping his fingers, goading the doors to start closing.

This was the first time that Artemis had witnessed the doors of Death in person, and they were most certainly not what she was expecting, though they might have changed in appearance to suit the change in Death. They were a grand set of doors that literally opened up into the mortal world out of the mouth of a great temple. The House of Hades.

Both of the immortal equestrians had already bolted through the doors, both quite eager to return to their previous activities, which for Blackjack was most likely to have been munching moons. Percy put a hand on both of the archer's shoulders before they moved past everything in a flash of light. What had just happened to them? Artemis looked around in confusion only to see Percy standing with his arms splayed wide and actually forcing the doors shut by himself. The thing was, one they had been shut, they were seemingly staying shut.

"Thank you brother, that was one Hell of a game of capture the flag." Percy chuckled as he turned to Conquest who gave him the signature grin and thumbs up. He needed to relax after going through Tartarus. It hadn't been the worst he'd been through, but it most certainly hadn't been that much of a walk in the park.

"No worries bro, I'm going back to the Soul Forge, I've got a new project to work on. One that you might have liked had you not been so into leather, but you know, whatever, I can tan some leathers if you weren't so picky." Conquest winked before disappearing, leaving only Artemis and Percy standing in the sands of the Greek lands. Well, the sands that were artificially put in the forecourt of Hades' temple.

"So, about that chat. Will you accompany me to my chariot? We can talk in uninterrupted privacy." Artemis asked him, taking in a large breath. She didn't exactly wait for his answer, she just flashed them both into said moon chariot.

Percy's natural instincts kicked in and he just analyzed it for a moment, it was very beautiful, just everything about it was awe inspiring. "So. You wish to go to Alaska?" Artemis brought his focus back to her. He merely nodded. That was his plan, the land that the Gods couldn't willingly go to. He was going to just stroll right over because he was Death, and nothing was going to stop him in his mission, especially not an invisible border to the cold.

"Your plan is presumably to free Thanatos but then what? You can't fight against everyone. You've got your plate full with hunting down the Sins, you can't take on Gaea and Tartarus as well." Artemis pointed out. Percy considered this for a moment before there was presumably a light bulb erratically blinking inside his melon.

"That's it! Artemis you're a genius!" He announced, grabbing her face and kissing her deeply. She was so surprised by this that she didn't even have time to register the fact that she was no longer stuck at the lips with him.

She opened her eyes to see him standing on the side of her moon chariot. "Percy wait!" But it was far too late. He'd dived out, rocketing towards the earth with such a ferocious speed. He made such slight changes to his body position, but they made such huge impacts to the direction that he was falling. Soon enough he was flying down at incredible speeds towards the vast openness of the sea.

Just how indestructible was he? He'd just dive bombed from the moon itself. During the winter months, the moon chariot would rise as high as the lunar orbit, unlike Apollo's vessel that never strayed from it's regular altitude.

Percy hit the water like it was nothing and continued to dive towards the ocean depths. Of course that's what he'd do, he'd ask his father for help in tracking down and destroying his weakest seal. Or perhaps that would be too tasking for him, who was to know? But maybe if he got Poseidon to participate personally in the war then there would be a lot more leeway for him to hunt the seals unhindered by Gaea or that troublesome shit-head, Tartarus.

He finally reached the palace where he knew his father resided most of the time. It was strangely quiet though, in fact, he couldn't even sense a soul outside of the main throne room, that was odd. Being who he was, he casually just walked straight through, completely oblivious to the trap that he'd waltzed right into.

"My dear Perseus, so good to see you." A woman cooed as she sat in the throne that clearly did not belong to her. Poseidon and Triton were being held in binds alongside that fish face Amphitrite.

"I have no idea who you are lady but unless you release my family then we're going to see how fast I can swing a scythe under water." He threatened as casually as ever. This didn't seem to put off the woman who had somehow anticipated Percy's arrival, or perhaps she hadn't and was just very hopeful.

"Well that's no way to speak to someone who is going to become your chief Goddess now is it?" She huffed. It was only then that he seemed to notice the strange tinge of purple in her eyes, like she wasn't really all there.

"Greed. I know who you are now. Give me back my seal!" Percy stomped his foot immaturely. Poseidon gave him a scolding glare. He was being held hostage alongside side his wife and one of Percy's brothers and the boy was having a mock hissy fit!?

"Oh you ARE very clever. But I'm afraid if you want this little seal back, you're just going to have to earn it!" She giggled before disappearing. The binds around Poseidon and the other went with the sin of Greed.

He cursed himself, that was two seals that he'd let slip out of his grasp. He could have been more than strong enough to have fought off Tartarus and Gaea by now if he'd destroyed Greed and Pride, but that would just have to wait, he had far more important issues to deal with, aside from actually finding out just who the heck that was meant to be. He expected Lucifer to bring in major players not just random people.

"Father, I'm here to ask a favor." Percy announced with what was very possibly the worst attempt at a fake smile... Ever. Poseidon sighed, knowing that nothing about this day was going to be easy. Things were only going to get harder when one of your sons turned out to be Death.

 **A/N: I'm pretty tired right now, but hey ho, I'll have something somewhat interesting next chapter. Maybe. I purposely didn't really have a description for Greed because I haven't really fleshed it out in my mind yet. She'll remain unknown for quite a while, as will Sloth. Lust is either going to be the next big problem for Percy or Gluttony. Haven't decided yet.**

 **Oh, and the reviews aren't showing up on the website, but I'm still getting emails off you guys from them, so keep on reviewing and keeping this story flowing! Until next time :D**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	9. Chapter 9 - Chasing Greed

**Chapter 9 – Chasing Greed**

Poseidon sighed, this was just going to turn into another incredibly long day with Percy at the very center of whatever trouble was to come along, as was usually the case whenever Percy was involved.

Amphitrite was fairly shaken up from their whole ordeal, but she made sure to give Percy an appreciative nod before seeking support from her throne at the end of the grand marbled hall.

Triton was surprisingly well adjusted to being held hostage, which made Percy wonder just how often this sort of thing tended to happen to them.

"Thank you Perseus. Father told me a few days ago about all of your mis-adventures." Triton commented with a grin, being the first one to break the awful silence that had descended upon them.

Percy managed to give a chuckle in response. Yeah, they were most certainly classable as mis-adventures. "You're welcome brother, I know that I am far removed from what I once was, but that doesn't mean that I'm about to ignore my family." Percy added, which earned him a hug from both his brother and father, which served to surprise him quite a lot. Triton had never been one to go easy on him, not in the past.

"So a little birdy has told me that you've been seen hanging around Lady Artemis quite a lot, could this be true?" Triton grinned, his tone was nothing if not undeniably mischievious. There was no doubt in Percy's mind that Triton had been once again hanging around with Apollo, who else could have known about him accompanying Artemis and the Hunt?

"Well that little birdy needs to stop singing before I clip it's wings. I came to ask a favor of someone capable enough to pull off a particularly stupid idea but I should hunt down that... Thing, whatever they were." Percy announced, only getting a raised eyebrow from his father and brother. It was times like these that Percy realized exactly how similar the two of them were. It also made him quite grateful that he didn't actually inherit the whole 'tail' part of being one with the seas.

"Just go easy on my domains son, I'm sure that you can feel the immense pressure and how it's still under the seas." Poseidon asked him. The God of the seas looked so very tired, he must have been effected quite a lot by having someone else sit on his throne, someone that was more powerful than his throne in regards to trying to destroy any unwelcome beings.

"I make no promises but if I CAN, then I WILL keep the damage to a minimum, at the same time, if there is only the path of destruction that will lead me to destroying my seal and getting my power back, then I will take it with near enough full force. Goodbye father. Brother." Percy said his goodbyes, even going so far as to look towards Amphitrite and nod his head respectfully. She'd never admit it but she didn't actually hate Percy. She most definitely hated the fact that he was a symbol of her husband's infidelity, but the boy himself? No, she respected who he was and more than that, she greatly respected who he had become.

Percy snapped his fingers, having to use a little more power to teleport now that he was underwater. He didn't think that this would be the case, moreover he hoped that because he'd grown up under the domain of practically being a prince of the sea, that his natural power for it would have been bolstered by his massive gains from becoming Death, but apparently the seas themselves weren't his biggest fan. Possibly because of how he had gone from being a mere peer to Pontus, the primordial god of the oceans, to being a first generation primordial who was considerably above Pontus.

That made him wonder whether or not the old God would aid him, no, probably not. Nobody wanted to aid Death, they just wanted to delay their own end. Especially immortals, because there was never a set date for them. Beings of power, that was more appropriate than calling them immortals. There was only two concepts of immortality that really rung true, one was the Void, the predecessor to Chaos and Percy. The Void, the one who symbolized the beginning, the first part in a two part package of primordial godliness. First it was the Void, and from it sprung Chaos and order, though order had a different name... Death.

As he was moving quite effortlessly through the sea he found himself encased in a vault of pressure, the likes of which weren't enough to make him falter to his knees, but it was enough to make him break a sweat in his attempt to stand strong against it. There was no doubts in his mind that whoever this crazy chick was, she was enveloped by his Sin of Greed. She wanted so desperately to gain a throne of her own, to become the one and only Goddess to rule, she was encased in Greed before she'd even been given his seal, and because of her sheer amount of that sin, it had made her so much more powerful than his seal ever could have done in the first place.

He was certain that when this fight really kicked off, that it was going to be one that spread a very pure level of destruction wherever they may roam. Somehow he already knew that no matter how good this oncoming fight would be, it was never going to get him off as much as that fist fight with Artemis in the sky. He'd been pretty neutral towards her for most of the time recently, but it was all starting to finally get to him. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to lie to himself about it, but she was definitely becoming someone who made his heart beat, she actually gave him a reason to feel like the human that he once was. Artemis was single handedly bringing him back from the brink of being nothing more than the cold embrace of the end.

"So we get to finally meet where there aren't any people in danger of being hurt, fantastic!" The woman squealed, gracefully floating back into his view. No, she wasn't someone that could natively move against the currents with the same ease as walking, but because of Percy's power flowing through her, she wasn't having that much of a hard time with it at all.

"How can you say that after holding my brother and father as hostages inside their own throne room?" Percy answered, struggling to make out her facial features due to the gravity around him flowing so erratically that the surrounding waves were shrouding her from view.

"Listen hunny, I only did that so that you would get a subconscious thought to visit them, I have nothing against Poseidon, his family or his realm. I only needed to put him in that situation so that you would come along. I have your power flowing through my veins and it's fantastic, it truly is, but I've been offered everything on a plate if I can destroy you once and for all. Sorry Death, it's nothing personal, but it's time for a taste of your own medicine." The woman grinned. It was then that the gravity dispersed and he finally took note of what she looked like.

Long flowing chocolate colored hair. She was wearing a bikini and she had a few spaced out tattoos around her body. Surely she wasn't just a mortal that had been gifted with sight through the mist? If that was the case and she'd had a close call with an immortal of Olympus or for that matter, Othrys, then she could have been caught up in her personal fantasies about becoming a Goddess. It would have been the same thing that drove Thalia's mother insane, and Luke Castellan's. Except she'd been given exactly what she wanted, though it simply wasn't enough for her.

That was all he saw before the realization hit him that he was no longer under the sea, but rapidly descending from the atmosphere. Oh yeah, this was definitely going to be a fight that he enjoyed.

 **Line Break. Sorry if my writing appears sloppy compared to my other chapters. I've been ill.**

 **Also. This next bit may be confusing, but in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces I may ever write. IF I can pull it off properly.**

Artemis was watching over the side of her Moon Chariot as that idiot went about his business under the sea. Something that she so desperately wished she'd been able to do during her life. Her chariot wasn't like Apollos, yet it still had signs of modern day incorporation, that wasn't to say that it was entirely like the old senses of being a 'chariot' but rather a modest mixture of the two, resulting in a spacious yet highly capable godly vehicle.

She was about to leave and return to the camp to see to the safety of her girls but something else caught her attention, to the point that she spun on her heel with her bow drawn, "No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold, nothing satisfies me but YOUR soul." A beautiful voice called out, there was a woman sitting on the edge of her moon chariot, something that no one but Artemis should be able to do, heck, nobody should be able to even reach the chariot without Artemis taking them there, but here she was.

She had incredibly short hair for a woman, the same color as Percy's. She had powerful blue eyes though, almost identical to the piercing azure gaze that she'd seen in Conquest's iris'. That was how Artemis knew to group a sense of power that came from someone's eyes. You either had a powerful gaze... Or you weren't a Horseman.

"It's just SO appropriate all things considered. I mean, the mortals make a song about him and then he goes and does something stupid..." She said, finally letting her lustful gaze fall upon Artemis' somewhat aged body, "Like falling in love." She was practically spelling it out to the Goddess of the moon.

"It's so nice to finally meet the one person that my idiot brother has finally given up those silly ideals of suicide for." The woman practically cooed towards Artemis.

"How the Hell did you even get here!? I'd also like to add that I don't really care who you are but you have a very short time limit to get off of my chariot." Artemis threatened, the tension in her bow hadn't decreased a single bit. The woman in front just grinned even wider, starting to resemble a black haired chesire cat. She swung a leg over and actually got inside the moon chariot. There was no doubt that she was incredibly powerful, to Artemis it felt very much like Percy.

"Put the bow down sugar, save yourself a little dignity. You couldn't stop me if you wanted to. Where are my manners? My name is Famine, I'm a Horseman and I answer directly to Chaos, I'm also, as of recently, one of Percy's naughty little sins." Famine just continued to cast her gaze over Artemis' body, which made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.

How could another Horseman be subjected to Percy's seals? They were all meant to be too strong for that, heck, Artemis remembered Percy telling her that each Horseman had their own seals. "But how?" Was all the silver Goddess could think to respond with.

"Well, big momma Chaos asked me to undertake one of Death's sins. Call it an undercover initiative, we still don't know what that precious headcase of a fallen Angel; Lucifer, wants with the complete back-catalog of power that belongs to Death." Famine sighed, she felt a pang of energy that was so highly developed despite being so highly compressed. There were very few people throughout the universe who had that much strength, and especially considering this planet was favored by both Chaos and Percy, she considered it had to be him, getting into some kind of fight which was not of any surprise.

"Look, I have to make this quick because if Death finds out I'm his sin of Lust, then he'll take the first chance he can to destroy me. I just had to come to see the one who had Death wanting to seal his heart away one day then making him smile the next. Take care Lady Artemis of the Moon, the one you know as Perseus is a wild animal at heart, one that cannot be tamed even by a Goddess of the Hunt." And with that, Famine had disappeared, using her power to lock away the memories of her appearing in the moon chariot.

That was the worst part, Artemis remembered it, but she couldn't speak of it or bring it up, and she was completely aware of that. She knew that one of Percy's fellow Horsemen had willingly taken one of his seals as part of an undercover mission, but that meant that she was going to cast him into an unknown tunnel of pain before he finally understood everything.

The only question that remained for Artemis, was just how strong Percy's Lust was? He'd put it into words for her before, but in the hands of a Horseman? It could only spell disaster, still... Artemis couldn't help but feel that Famine was quite possibly not all the way effected by it, and was possibly just lying to some effect. What if the seal of Lust was actually somewhere else?

She needed to deal with this and get back to Percy as soon as she could. She decided that it was at least worth looking for him down below, chances are he was either still under the ocean or already in Alaska going to free Thanatos, but on the off chance that he wasn't, she'd take the chance to see him again before going back to the girls in the hunt.

She found him alright, literally a hundred thousand miles beneath her, and plummeting towards Camp Jupiter's exact location at rate of nearly a thousand miles per second. He was in the middle of a fight that was going to land right in the Roman's courtyard.

Despite it's obviously bad meaning, she couldn't help but crack a smile. She remembered watching Percy's first time at Camp Jupiter before he'd gone missing. The sheer amount of arguments he'd gotten into with Terminus, and now the old border God couldn't do anything to stop him. This was bound to be funny if there wasn't also the threat of someone strong enough to choke slam Death against the Roman camp from the altitude of the outer atmosphere.

 **Line Break. It might be, it might not. I haven't decided yet, but I'm keeping my options open.**

Percy had managed to keep the damage to a minimum, which he was pretty proud of considering Greed had just used enough power to drill a hole directly through the Earth, and yet the only thing that even signified any damage had been done, was the twenty foot diameter of the crater that he was currently lying at the bottom of.

It was right in the street of the surrounding Cohort lodgings that were all centered around the camp borders, just before they actually got into the city of New Rome, but that was less about demi-gods who went on quests and more about older demi-gods who tended not to attract too many monsters at all.

"So how did that feel? I know you've sealed away so much more power than this, so if you tell me where the other seals are, I'll make your death instant." She grinned, grabbing Percy by the collar of his beautifully decorated black overcoat. His upper body clearly visible in the moon light that was shining down upon them. Funny, he only ever remembered it being night here just once, he was always exhausted from the absolutely insane training that the Romans did. That level of stamina was just laughably below him now. Though it had to be said, he was very much given a different training program than literally any other Roman aside from Jason who hadn't been there for some time, purely because to them he was a son of the big three.

"It feels like I can't severely punish you simply because you held my family hostage and threw me from the moon. Your intentions have been severely distorted because of the unfathomable power coursing through your veins." He explained, taking hold of the wrist that held onto his collar and snapping it in one clean movement. With a snap of his fingers he'd silenced any noise that came from Greed's mouth. She still writhed in pain and tried screaming, but it was a vacuum.

"So I shall be taking my power back in the most painless way I know how, and then, I'm going to personally send your soul to Hades with someone that I trust. Nico." Percy told her, he whispered his cousin's name so quietly that she hadn't heard him, but the son of Hades certainly had, it was a summons, one that he, being a prince of the dead, simply couldn't ignore from Death.

Percy grabbed Greed by the neck and exit the crater with her silently writhing in pain. A lot of the Romans had come to investigate, Reyna being the only one present who actually had her golden armor on, with those flowing purple robes underneath. Poor girl, she was the only praetor left, and she had to deal with that idiot Octavian at the same time. She was acceptant of Nico, though she didn't like not knowing where he was going every time he left the camp.

Nico popped out of the shadows and stood next to Reyna silently. He didn't need to hear any words to understand what was happening. Percy tapped Greed's forehead, a sigil of white burned itself onto her forehead, he had to use OLD magics because she wasn't actually an immortal or a demi-god offspring of anyone. She was a plain and ordinary mortal with HIS power running through her.

"Sin of Greed; I release you, return to your master!" He commanded. All that white light erupted from her eyes and out of the symbol he'd put on her forehead. Two streams of whispy white power flowed gracefully through Percy's eyes. Everything about him seemed to have gotten droves stronger, even down to his idle gaze.

Before he could do anything else, the symbol turned black and the woman slumped to the ground. There was no mistake, you didn't get a symbol put on your head by Death after stealing his power and survive.

Reyna watched with a horrible fascination to it all. She didn't need to be related to Nico to understand that the cold feeling she was getting was simply because of the fact that the woman who had presumably been the one to cause that crater in the middle of her cluster of cohorts was now dead because of Percy Jackson, the man who had been here mere days before causing all kinds of bother only to turn out to be the strongest being around.

"Nico, please take her to your father, with THIS letter." He snapped his fingers, an ancient looking piece of parchment with a black wax seal that had letter 'D' pushed into it, appeared out of nothing. Nico nodded, needing no further explanations. He wasn't one for taking orders, but he was also above many people in the regard that Percy still saw him as a cousin, and not a subordinate.

Nico was gone mere moments after taking the letter, taking the woman's body with him. "Care to explain now that you're not being attacked by the twin archers?" Reyna asked, not getting her hopes up. She realized that unless Percy was feeling especially kind, then he wasn't likely to grant any audiences to mere demi-god praetors.

After a moment of silence, his eyes suddenly broke out of their cold black and instead had a warming splash of green to them. He gave her a weak smile and a nod, following her through the streets that were lined with Romans all pointing and whispering at the trail of carnage that had followed Percy Jackson for the past few times he'd been here.

They had ALL heard the rumors now, that the estranged son of Neptune was Death himself, but now they finally understood it when they saw him, a much taller him, walking calmly behind the praetor wearing all black, his upper body partially revealed. His mid riff was especially exposed and gawked at, mostly by the women.

Artemis would have been too late, she couldn't just appear inside Reyna's quarters on the basis of whatever bullshit she'd come up with. She wanted to corner Percy before he went to Alaska, but she also had no more excuses to make to herself as to why she wasn't going back to see her hunters. She just wanted HIM, and to be alone with him with no problems and no one else threatening their way of life. Honestly, he made her feel like they could just create bad copies of themselves and just hide away from it all, but together.

How did he always make her feel things that directly violated her sacred vow to forgo any and ALL forms of company from men? She had no problems co-operating with him when he needed it, that was fine, he was still her friend after all, but why did it have to be the case that her blood rose viciously to the skin whenever he looked at her. It was the realization that was starting to get to her, whenever she'd been alone in the past few days and thinking about him.

About just how quickly it had taken him to break down all of her barriers. About just how quickly she was falling in love with him...

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	10. Chapter 10 - The Warning

**Chapter 10 – The Warning**

 **A/N: Sorry it took me so long, working on other projects as well as making shit for YouTube. Check me out; RedThunder. Or wait for a channel link at the end of the chapter.**

It was something that was constantly dancing along his senses, a serious form of addiction that had slowly addled its way through his brain, something that was transcending everything that he thought he knew about the concept of 'needs', for instance, right now he desperately craved feeling the sensations of those soft lips pressing against his, it was why he'd not asked Artemis for that kiss when he was in her moon chariot, but rather, why he'd stolen that kiss from her.

He couldn't deal with the concept of her not letting him have it, because it was a solid addiction that was playing upon his need of HER. That was the astounding thing, there was genuinely something strong enough in the universe that could put HIM in such a position to call it a solid addiction. And he could pinpoint the exact thing that he was addicted to.

Firstly, it was the texture, her lips on his, soft yet just as needing of that particular fix than he was. Secondly there was the scent and the taste, and that was the real kicker for him, it was delicious, something that he was sure would have changed his childhood fixations over blue cookies and turned all of his camp meals into something else entirely. Artemis' lips tasted like a dash of cinnamon, and smelled much the same except with a hint of pine. A Goddess whose domains lied within something that rested outside of the atmosphere, and the other that lied directly in forests all over the world.

Why was he thinking about his addiction to kissing Artemis? Because here he was explaining to Reyna exactly how he'd ended up creating a crater in the middle of her camp, yet having to omit certain details involving a silver Goddess. He just wondered exactly how much he could cut out of his story before Aurum and Argentum would start growling. Especially if the daughter of Bellona happened to ask him the pivotal question of, 'is that all?'.

"You know," She began with a sigh, reaching out with one hand to grab the bowl of never-ending m&m's that sat in front of her, "If anyone else had told me all of this, I would have called them out on it immediately, but it really does seem like you to go missing and in the three months you've been gone from us, have actually been through some serious shit in Tartarus before returning nearly one hundred and sixty years later as the Grim Reaper." She gave off another sigh. She was tired, so very tired from holding this camp together by herself. She really needed a day off, but that was so unlikely to happen with the current state of things.

"I don't really know what to say to that, I mean, yeah, I doubt anyone else would have survived the things I've been through but it's not like I had any choice, it was either become Death or fade for eternity, and I just wasn't ready to die. Ironic now that I look back on it." He chuckled slightly before deciding that he'd already spent WAY too much time in New Rome. He had places to go and people to beat up, or at least, that was his assumption. "Anywho, I've got to go to Alaska now. Good seeing you again for all of about an hour." He waved at her over his shoulder before fading from her sight completely. Death moved across the states and into the northernmost part of the land mass.

"Huh, how about that, somewhere that I can't naturally flash straight into. Strange." He muttered to himself, convinced that there were none watching him. He was stood a meter out from what was very much the border to Alaska.

"Hey!" He heard someone shouting, it only just reached his ears and even so it was faint in the winds that were picking up with speed. He turned around to find himself looking at a rather chubby asian kid. Kid might have been the wrong choice of words as he was physically a very similar age to Percy, he just wasn't anywhere near as old as Death really was.

"Can I help you?" He deadpanned as the kids caught up to him. They had a very familiar reek about them. He didn't exactly need to go off of that to understand that they were campers, especially as Nico was with them. Percy raised an eyebrow at his cousin, why was he here when only a mere hour ago he had asked the son of Hades to deliver the mortal's body to the fields of Asphodel and deliver the message to his father.

"Fancy seeing you here Perce. I'm stepping in to help with this quest as the main choice for this great prophecy ended up turning into possibly the single most powerful being in existence. Good work Perce." Nico snidely commented with a huge grin on show. The girl, someone that Percy had actually met before, Hazel Levesque was actually a daughter of Pluto, and by extension, a cousin to Percy and a sister to Nico.

"What are you doing here Percy?" Hazel asked, clutching her coat even tighter over her body after seeing Percy in that long black overcoat with nothing on underneath. It seemed that being Death had a few perks, especially with not feeling the cold.

"Freeing Thanatos, what are you doing here?" He asked just as quickly. Looking around Percy could see nothing aside from thick swathes of snow that was threatening to engulf the ankles of his boots if he didn't watch his step and stick to the main road. These parts could be dangerous to mortals, but it would just be annoying to him.

"Freeing Thanatos, it's part of our prophecy that we do it as its in Alaska, no Gods can go past the border, how did you expect to free him?" Frank asked him incredulously. How could Percy have been so thick?

"Because I'm not a God, I'm a Horseman. One of four, if you collect us all you get an awesome consolation prize." Percy responded dryly, giving Frank a deadpanned thumbs up before turning his back on them and confidently stepping over the border to Alaska.

"Come with me if you must, if not, leave me alone." He told them, continuing to walk away, or rather, towards where he could literally feel Thanatos' godly energy. The God of Death was about to meet THE Death. Percy just hoped that Thanatos wouldn't see him bitterly, because it would be a great shame to have to destroy him.

 **Line Break.**

Halfway around the world, somewhere vastly different from the cold snowy roads that Death was hiking on, a Horseman made their way across the sun baked pavements, hopeful to finally find what she was sent there for.

Chaos had asked Famine to undertake a particularly difficult mission. To go under the guise of being inflicted with one of Death's seals, to find out the extent of Lucifer's plans. Chaos didn't really mind what happened to the Earth, she had other interests littered throughout the universe, but she knew for a fact that if this world was laid to waste, then Death would not be able to be contained, and he would kill indiscriminately until his rage was completely vented, and that was something that she couldn't allow to happen.

Famine walked across the road, knowing that she was very shortly about to receive some rather angry company in the form of her darling brother. Famine had the seal of Lust, yet she hadn't taken it's power, merely exercised her own as a bluff to Lucifer that she was under control of Percy's power. Only herself and Chaos knew the truth, they were both also fully aware of what might happen if Death was to ever find out that she was, supposedly, a symbol of one of his sins. Famine's life would end horrifically.

The truth was that actually, Famine wasn't the sin of Lust, she was merely pretending to further he own act of gathering intelligence, but nobody knew that. As she walked across the arid streets of Cairo, there was a tremendous earthquake, or that's what the mortals would have experienced. Famine knew better as she found herself staring at the seven foot figure of an armor plated mountain of a man. Underneath the gleaming metal plates that had been created in the Soul Forge was another Horseman. The final Horseman to set foot upon the earth, War.

He'd felt Famine's power play when she was trying to convince Lucifer that she was his ally with Percy's encapsulated Lust writhing within her. She had a high enough sex drive as it was, she didn't need anything added to it.

"You walk an extremely dangerous line, sister." War's voice echoed through his helmet, only his bright white eyes were visible through the metal slots in the framework. It was a magnificent project that Conquest had taken it upon himself to complete. This was something that Famine expected, though she found herself cursing that it was War that had found her. The Horseman with five seals was incredibly powerful in his own right.

"I know the path that lies ahead of me, and trust me, nobody is more aware of the dangers than me, but this is something that has become necessary. If you wish to fight me on Death's behalf then I cannot stop you." Famine announced, slowly bringing a whip out of thin air, just in case War decided to get a cheap shot in, though it wasn't like him to do that. He was a very honorable being and believed that a one on one fight should be fought fairly. That was how the poor fool was continually getting the brunt of the attacks whenever the Four had to ride to solve a problem, though Famine supposed that he didn't exactly mind that either.

"I will not fight my own brethren though if Death finds out then you would wish it were me and not him anyway. I merely came to warn you of what lies ahead if you continue down your chosen path, and I would avoid Conquest if I were you, he may destroy you just as quickly as Death would." War said no more than that, simply leaving an a show of power that the mortals couldn't even see.

Famine took this advice very highly but alas, her 'path' was one that Chaos had asked her to put herself on, so she had. She hated to keep her brothers in the dark about this but at least War trusted her to some degree if he was willing to let her carry on without forcing some sort of intervention on her.

She would have whispered her thanks but War already knew her very well. Now she just had to focus on getting her hands on the seal of Gluttony before it homed in on it's target, after all, the 'target' would be almost undefeatable if it was ever subjected to Death's sin of Gluttony, much the same as the real target for the sin of Lust, besides, Famine knew a good love story in the making when she saw one, and it wouldn't do for either of those seals to reach their final destinations.

She knew of Death's recent adventures after having broken Envy and Greed, he was off somewhere in the cold visiting a subordinate of his or something like that. She held the sin of Lust personally and she was tracking down the burial place of the seal of Gluttony. She knew for a fact that an archangel named Uriel was inflicted with Death's Pride, making her extremely powerful yet the worst case scenario was one that had very much come true; Death's near endless Wrath had gone to Lucifer which was no doubt going to prove to be a very painful mixture to all of them. That made six, Famine worried about the last seal.

Who could possibly hold Death's sin of Sloth?

 **A/N: A really short chapter here, and I'm sorry for that, but I realized that I really needed to update. Got something special for you here, a teaser of sorts.**

 **Lucifer – Fallen Angel/Devil = Wrath**

 **Uriel – Archangel = Pride**

 **? - ? = Sloth**

 **? - ? = Gluttony**

 **'Greed' - Mortal = Greed**

 **? - ? = Lust**

 **Jude – Demi-god = Envy**

 **I know all of these, I've already planned it all out. IF you're desperate to find out how I've planned it all out, leave a review asking for it and I'll send you a personal message explaining.**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of old games from my childhood, a lot of nostalgic playstation 1 gaming happening at the moment, check it out. /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	11. Chapter 11 - The Bear's Sin

**Chapter 11 – The Bear's Sin**

The three heroes who had undertaken the prophecy to free Thanatos quickly ran to catch up with Percy who was striding forwards with all of the confidence in the world. "Dude, what's up with this crazy look? It's giving me the creeps." Nico told him casually, uncaring whether or not the two Roman demi-gods had anything to say about it at all.

Percy grunted briefly before responding to the son of Hades, quickly telling him that this was simply his true form, there was nothing higher than that. He'd become Death after he'd lived a life of being a hero so his physical appearance was never going to change that drastically, the same went for pretty much all of the Horsemen, though they did all have VERY different origins, none were even remotely similar.

"He's not wrong Percy, there is definitely something odd about you that's giving me the chills as well." Hazel joined in, much to the dismay of the chubby asian kid with the bow. Percy had learned when he first arrived at camp Jupiter that Frank was unclaimed, desperately wishing himself to be a son of Apollo because of his love for archery, though it looked as though he'd since been claimed, by Mars no less.

Percy was damn glad that he didn't have an alternate aspect, two Deaths would be just far too much trouble, especially during his current power crisis. "Yeah well, two children of Pluto are looking at Death in his true form, I'm surprised that it's only creeping you out and not making you nauseous or anything." He admitted with a slight shrug which pretty much told them that he honestly didn't care.

The chatter ceased pretty much immediately after that, Nico knew that Percy wasn't usually this cold, especially not to him, there was just a lot on Death's mind, and it was becoming obvious.

"If Gods can't go past the border to Alaska, then how did they get Thanatos there? He's a God, and one from my domain so this is very easily pissing me off." Percy muttered to himself, he hadn't even intended for the others to hear him, he was just desperately trying to figure out if there were any traps that he needed to be aware of. If it was the case that they had something capable of ensnaring Death, then he should probably at least attempt to avoid it.

"Two hundred miles in that direction." Death pointed to what looked to be a minuscule iceberg that sat over the horizon, though knowing him, it was pinpoint accuracy as to where they needed to go. "Catch up to me in the next hour and I'll be impressed." He grinned before disappearing. Frank was immensely confused by exactly how he could convey such a relaxed attitude in this decrepit cold.

Percy materialized a few hundred feet below the iceberg that was taking up most of his vision. He could feel it, the power of the cold transfer of souls residing above the surface of that iceberg. Thanatos was definitely up there, most definitely against his will. "Hmm." He hummed to himself before tightening the muscles in his legs before unleashing the pent up power in his muscles, launching himself high into the air. He'd literally jumped the height of the iceberg like it was nothing to him, and realistically, it WAS nothing compared to what he could will his body to do.

There was a veil of thick mist that hung in the air like a rancid cloud of pestilence that obscured even Death's gaze. He decided to do the one thing that would allow him to assume complete stealth. He turned into a copy of his own icon, a majestic crow was left where Percy had stood mere seconds ago.

Crows had always been his sacred animal, ever since the concept of a carrion bird had been discovered. Where Death went, crows always followed.

He watched through blackened eyes as the scene below him as his wings took him high above the un pierced veil of false fog that was stopping him from seeing his target. There was a gigantes hiding very well within it, merely waiting for his guests. This one, Alcyoneus, Percy knew of, he was a rather difficult giant to kill regardless of whether Tartarus was being held open due to Thanatos being chained up. Alcyoneus could not be killed inside this place but that rule only really applied to demi-gods and Gods, not Death itself. If he willed something to end, then it would.

Percy sensed that the demi-Gods acompanied by none other than his cousin Nico, were thundering towards his position incredibly fast. He sensed a godly energy that belonged to one being, a unique aura followed it. A son of Poseidon no less, but this was a very different son of Poseidon. It was Arion the thunderhoofed foul mouthed horse. This was Percy's time to come out of hiding, and he did it right at the best moment.

A few minutes had passed but finally Frank, Hazel and Nico were feet away from Thanatos, asking him how they could free him from his chains. Nico had never seen anything like them and was starting to feel sick after being so close to the God of passing souls. It was starting to have an effect on the Prince of the dead.

Alcyoneus made his presence known by slamming down a huge club that sent ice shards blasting everywhere, bringing Lars to life as he did so. "Did you really think that it would be that easy to free Death?" He boomed with a chuckle.

"I am not Death, I am Thanatos." The God responded casually, making sure that the point was known. Nico could already feel what was happening, there was a small buzz running around the ice at his feet, something that only the purest form of raw power could cause. The Lars were beginning to get dangerously close as the two children of Hades/Pluto sought to keep them and Alcyoneus away while Frank suddenly thought about his lifeline. The piece of wood that could cut through Death's chains at the expense of his own life.

"Is there a difference?" Alcyoneus never lost his giant grin as he pressed onward, eager to start squashing the little demi-gods beneath him.

"Yes, there is. I am the God of Death, however, the young man behind you IS Death." Thanatos noted. Alyconeus wasn't sure what he should have expected. He had never taken Thanatos to be someone to make up ploys of distraction, but he sure as Hades hadn't been expecting a man to step through the mist, easily passing through the Lars like they were nothing. With a snap of his fingers, they all exploded into black vapor that quickly dispersed among the fresh Alaskan air. Alcyoneus was shocked, the sheer power coming from this one man was astounding and far above anything he'd ever seen before.

"You!? How did you-" Very little time had passed between the point where Alcyoneus had turned around to run from the almost incomprehensible power before him and the point where he was nailed to the ground with thousands of long shards of black diamond impaling the entire length of his body. He couldn't die by normal means within this place, so instead it was up to Percy to ensure his departure to the Void was seen through.

Hazel watched in horror as the giant let out some horrific screams. Despite him being a giant, the sounds he was making were sure to haunt her forever. It was as far removed from anything humane that she'd ever witnessed, but she understood the sheer necessity for it though.

Percy continued to walk over, maintaining eye contact with Thanatos the entire time.

"My lord." Thanatos bowed his head respectfully.

"Do not do that. I hate formalities." Percy told him, pulling Frank away from the incarcerated God so that he didn't foolishly burn away his last remaining lifeline.

"As you wish... Death." Thanatos watched with a refreshed interest as Percy gripped the chains either side of him before effortlessly ripping them out of the ground. Once they were free, Percy's hands glowed white hot for a split seconds before each and every chain link with burned into nothing but ash. An impressive feat considering they were made from stygian iron.

"Thank you my l... Thank you. I shall resume my duties now." With that being said, there was a whipping of shadows before he was gone, leaving just the three demi-gods and the Horseman standing on the iceberg.

"Well, that was riveting. I'll take you guys back to your camp before I leave, come one." Leave. Where was he going? Truthfully he still had a lot of hunters to give personal lessons to, so that was probably where he was going to go, plus, he had to find some reason to keep seeing Artemis didn't he?

 **Line Break**

A sandy haired man laid back comfortably in a field surrounded high green plants fresh in their bloom. The smell was unforgettable and the feeling of bliss was overwhelming. He could quite happily stay here forever and never move around more than was absolutely necessary.

He let out a yawn that echoed around the field, taking him by surprise from the sheer power of it. Luckily these fields had all long been forgotten by the people that lived here. The sun was bearing down beautifully on the perfectly kept field. Jamaica, at least he thought he was in some Caribbean island.

"Man, this shit is way better than I remember." He moaned happily as he pulled the joint back to his lips and happily breathed in the herbs packed inside it. There was something that he'd forgotten to do though, he was sure there was something but just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hmm, maybe it was something to do with... Oh that's not good." Conquest sighed, realizing that he was meant to go and find his horse that had disappeared in search of another phantom horse.

"But, I think I'll have another joint first, it'd be a shame to let this sunshine go to waste as well." Conquest let a slow smile prop itself up on his face. There was a dull buzz constantly enveloping him. Such was the power of the Bear's Sloth. Conquest had unknowingly been subjected to Percy's sin of Sloth. Only time would tell exactly how much it would effect the Horseman, but one thing was for sure. The final showdown between the seals when they all came together was going to be complete Chaos without Order.

 **A/N: Oh hey guys, what's up? So sorry for leaving you guys for so long but I'd lost my motivation for this story, but it's back. Got quite a few good bits coming up soon, so don't forget to review!**

 **Also, if you wanted to help me out with a huge favor, you can check out my gaming channel. I swear at things in a sexy British accent, check it out, RedThunder /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	12. Chapter 12 - The Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter 12 – The Calm Before The Storm**

 **I'm really happy that you're all liking Conquest, it means that I've written an OC properly. A lot of you are asking if there's any way for Percy to get the seals without harming the host because you like the characters, I guess you'll just have to wait and find out ;)**

 **There the SMALLEST hint of Supernatural here, but that's it.**

'Death' A voice whispered out, the volume only just carrying over the icy air that shrouded Alaska. He was just about to appear in Camp Half Blood with the Hunters to see how they were doing and possibly train another one when all of a sudden THAT voice called out to him. He'd only ever heard it once before and he nearly died when he did hear it. Though, that time he was still a demi-god on the verge of turning into the oldest concept in existence.

It was the voice of Chaos. She wanted him, she wanted him to appear before her. Only himself and the previous Death had ever met Chaos such was the way when you were the one destined to take the life of the creator.

It was not his time to meet Chaos, not yet, she would have to learn some patience, especially as she knew for a fact that the only time she could ever meet any of her Horsemen were when they were there to reap her life. Unless... Unless Chaos had decided to follow the examples of her children and get a physical manifestation.

Even being Death, he couldn't disobey her direct summon, he wouldn't even have time to see Artemis before he was called away.

 **4 months later.**

Artemis was sat in her throne, propping her head against her hand with her elbows slumped on the armrests of her throne. She was bored with all of these seemingly endless meetings. So far, none of it had even concerned her yet she had to be there. The only thing that she still thought about with any regularity was where Percy had gone. He wasn't just going to disappear forever, he was Death itself. She was just lucky that there hadn't been any surfacing problems with the Sins.

That Angel, Uriel, the tanned woman with bright eyes was still out there and she was stuck with Percy's pride, the second most powerful seal, making her, the already magnificently strong Angel, even more of a threat to all except Percy himself. There was also Lucifer but he was imprisoned, even with Percy's wrath he couldn't escape on his own. Envy and Greed were dead, Sloth, Gluttony and Lust were still completely unknown variables to her and presumably him. Unless in the past four months he'd been hunting them down on his own.

Before he went missing he'd gone to Alaska to free Thanatos, completely oblivious to the fact that there was a quest for some demi-gods to do that exact thing. The fates hadn't been happy about it but when Zeus explained who Percy had become, they unsurprisingly let it slide. There were VERY few beings who superseded the fates and Percy was one of them. They didn't want to be the ones to try and scold him.

"And onto the most important thing." Zeus boomed, effectively bringing everyone out of their monotone induced comas. He looked immediately displeased. "Aeolus has informed me that there is a huge storm brewing over the entire area of Chicago. It's not natural yet no one has ordered it. If this storm really does reach projected levels then the entire of Chicago could be wiped off the map and we simply cannot allow this. As a result, myself and Artemis are both going to investigate the area, effective immediately. That is all." Zeus slammed his bolt against the floor dismissing the Gods.

Most went about their business immediately save for Zeus himself and Artemis who just looked confused. When was Zeus ever directly involving himself in the issues of mortals?

"Father?" She asked. Her question lingered in the air as Zeus got up and seemed to shimmer in the light. He physically changed to that of a much younger man. Was this what he looked like millenia ago? She hated to admit it because of the kind of person that he'd changed into over time but he was actually a rather tidy and handsome looking man like this.

"Dear?" Hera asked as she watched her husband change. Yes, Artemis could see it in Hera's eyes, some recognition. Once all was said and done Zeus looked to be physically brimming with overwhelming power. His had a neatly trimmed brown beard and short yet tidy hair of the same color. His eyes were no longer that of pure white but instead a striking lightning blue that were identical to Thalia's.

"Father... What did you just do?" Artemis' silver eyes were wide as she took in the new image of Zeus. He had gone back to his prime with the simple action of committing himself to dealing with his own issues.

"I'm choosing to lead through example over issuing others to do the work for me, such a thing will always bring change in a King. Now let's be off Artemis, I must find out what is the cause to this impending storm of catastrophe, especially as it's of such a magnitude that would cause me quite some effort to conjure." The sparks quickly left the King of the Gods and he let out a content sigh. He was finally back to the man he was before and it felt brilliant

 **A/N: When I mentioned the thing with Supernatural I meant JUST the Death/Chicago storm thing, not young Zeus as I'm calling him. He doesn't look like the Supernatural Zeus.**

"There's no time to waste with this, shall we go Artemis?" He asked her quickly. Artemis nodded in agreement before getting up from her throne. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hera's expression of joy and pure happiness. This was the man she had loved, not the man he had become. THIS was the truth behind Zeus.

They both immediately flashed to a dimly lit alley in Chicago, the winds instantaneously assaulted the two fo them. Not a mortal in sight, they were all barricaded away from the harm that this storm was already causing, despite it being in early spirits. That being said, both of them could feel the presence of mortals a few streets over. Artemis waved her hand and changed into some more appropriate clothes. Zeus did the same and it surprised Artemis that he'd decided to go with jeans and a leather jacket. She'd been so used to him wearing business suits all the time that she almost couldn't see that it was really him.

As they started walking, Zeus spoke up once more, though this had become a rather sore subject for Artemis, she had been expecting it for the past two months. "Have you seen or heard from Percy at all in the recent months? He'd be able to sort everything out with a snap of his fingers." Zeus sucked his teeth briefly before the two of them rounded a corner to see a busy street, the people all being battered by the wind yet still there went about their lives as if this was normal.

The clouds were brewing up overhead and there was a solemn yet grave feel about the air. Both Zeus and Artemis immediately gasped when they felt an almost unfathomable amount of power nearing them. That was it, that was the cause of the storm. A pale Cadillac Eldorado pulled up past them, windows tinted black so they couldn't see the driver. To Artemis, this particular feeling of pressure pushing down on her almost felt familiar.

The second after car stopped gave them both a sight that caused Artemis' heart to completely stop dead in her chest. The door of the Cadillac opened and immediately the whole street dropped ten degrees as a tall lean man in a brilliant black suit stepped out. He had long raven colored hair and eyes of the darkest midnight black.

"Is that..." Zeus never got to finish his question as he needed absolutely no answer. Everything seemed to be moving for them in slow motion as they both watched Death walk down the street. People all subconsciously avoiding him. All except for one.

"Hey, watch where you're walking pal!" An angry middle aged business man rudely pushed past him. Percy stopped as did time as the two Olympians were helpless to do anything but watch as he simply brushed his shoulder with such a minimal motion. The next second passed by like time had been flowing at a constant rate. Artemis and Zeus watched as the business man collapsed, dead before his body had even hit the ground. Such was the power of Death, who continued to walk onwards, not at all bothered by the death of the mortal behind him.

"I guess we know what's causing the storm. Come on, let's follow him for a little bit and see what he's up to. This is less Percy and more the cold-hearted concept of Death, if he's been missing for four months without even speaking to me then he's had a good reason." Artemis was more telling herself than she was her father but he understood the underlying tones beneath it anyway.

"He's come to be quite significant to you hasn't he Artemis? I do not know what has happened between the two of you but I do know that you jumped into Tartarus for him without hesitation despite knowing that he would be absolutely fine." Zeus reasoned. Artemis gave him a blank look yet he understood what she was really saying. She had no words that would be suitable to explain the situation to her father but deep down, Zeus knew what was going on.

Finally. Finally there was someone who had been able to change his daughter but after seeing the past events that had been happening to Percy, he only hoped that, for the sake of everyone, Artemis was going to be able to change HIM. Death was something that Percy had taken the mantle of, but alone he wouldn't be able to retain his humanity, that was where he needed the love and guidance of a certain silver Goddess that had captured his heart. They followed the strongest Horseman with stealth as they eagerly awaited some answers as to what was going on. No one had ever suspected that Percy could be behind the storm but it made perfect sense. Who else had so much power that they could perform such a feat that would impress Zeus himself?

 **The Soul Forge**

'Conquest, missing' That was all she'd gotten from the letter sent by Chaos. So far, she'd only directly spoken to Death himself and it had changed the man. The sheer power she conveyed had sent him down a direct path that was forcing him to actively hunt down all of his seals which was bad news for them all because Famine had lost the seal of Lust. It had disappeared one day leaving a mere trace of power that explained it was finally seeking out it's host.

Things were quickly going down hill. War was halfway across the universe dealing with a planet still in it's diapers as they discovered the way war worked. Death was keeping his head down and hunting his seals on Earth, Conquest was declared missing. Until that day.

It had been mere minutes since Famine had put the piece of paper down, looking around the Soul Forge she wondered how she was going to get herself out of this mess. War was completely out of the picture, it would take him six days to ride from his position to the Soul Forge and even longer to get to the Earth to help out. That aside if all four of them were on Earth at the same time, it would be a VERY bad thing. The only reason they'd gotten away with it when Famine had come to Earth was because Death had been in Tartarus and War had only been there for minutes at most.

The wall on the far side of the forge where Conquest used to spend most of his time suddenly exploded inwards in a show of white marble and dust that floated aimlessly for a second. That definitely got Famine's attention as Conquest casually walked in before plunging himself down on a comfy sofa that appeared at the snap of his fingers. Since when had he had that much power. Looking closely, Famine noticed a strange purple tinge in his eyes. Surrounded by red veins of raw bloodshot.

"Are you high?" She asked him incredulously with her hands on her hips. She had the sneaking suspicion that he had been subjected to something very bad.

"Yeah..." He replied slowly. "I've spent the past four and a half months lying in a field of plants in Jamaica. The sunshine was nice, you should try it." He told her with a yawn.

"Why? You've never been one to just sit back and... and..." It was as if a light had been flicked inside her mind.

"Conquest... You've been subjected to one of Death's seals." Famine told him sternly. Though she was feeling nervous. Conquest, though he had less seals than War, was still more powerful than the both of them put together and if he, a Horseman, had been forced to host one of Death's seals, then they were in for some real trouble if he turned violent against them.

"Am I? I guess that makes sense. I did just lie in a field for a third of a year." He yawned casually.

"I think you're feeling the effect of the sin and the power from Death but because you're a Horseman you're not feeling the negative effects that Lucifer reconstructed the seals for. This could work in our favor, come on, we need to visit a certain silver Goddess, I think she's the only one that can help us now." Famine told him, grabbing his lazily outstretched hand. He was going to be a huge pain in her ass.

"Damn, that reminds me of something. I was meant to tell, well at least someone but I can't even remember what it is." He said, suddenly sitting up and racking his brains.

"How important is it? Because we've got to find Artemis before Death finds us, especially as I've lost the sin of Lust and it's tracking it's host down as we speak." Famine looked impatient, if they lost their window of time then everything would crumble from the ground down.

"Sins! That's it Famine you're a genius!" He exclaimed, standing up. He looked incredibly intoxicated from all of the plants he'd smoked but she knew that he wouldn't even be able to fabricate any lies in his condition she just doubted that it was as important as he believed it to be. "I've found another seal. Blackjack is the sin of Gluttony. He ate the damn thing before going on a spree across a galaxy near War. Haven't you noticed that our horses are gone?" Conquest asked her wearily. She just looked at him in horror. So Gluttony had found it's intended host. She could only pray that Blackjack didn't fall prey to Lucifer's mind control otherwise it was going to be very bad for them.

"We need to find Artemis right now, come on, my horse is still with me. Hold on brother, this isn't going to feel gentle for you." She announced with a slight grin before they were both engulfed in a tunnel of light. When it all faded away, Conquest was holding on to her by the waist, riding on a pink motorcycle. Her 'horse' was with the times, but she could will it to return to a horse if she so wished.

"Why is she pink? Maybe its because I'm baked but I could have sworn that your horse was black?" Conquest asked, ever few seconds readjusting his grip on Famine's waist.

"Yeah but Death now has a black horse and I'm not that fussed. She's fine being pink, aren't you girl?" Famine let her hand slide down the gas tank before the steel horse let out a tremendous roar and they sped up through the streets. Their next destination? Chicago, where Artemis and Zeus were about to walk in on what they were least expecting. A showdown between Death and a partially resurrected Lucifer. What was going to happen when the other two Horsemen arrived, with every sin and seal being attracted to their presence?

 **A/N: Oh yeah, shit is going DOWN! You'll really want to see the next chapter, so why don't you leave a review and author favorite? ;)**

 **If you feel like supporting my other hobby, you can come and watch me play a load of games, often swearing like a sailor in the process. Check it out, RedThunder /channel/UCuR41yuScY68Z7r84rp0nZg**


	13. Chapter 13 - To The End

**Chapter 13 – To The End**

 **A/N: I bet you a review that you have a harsh sentence in mind especially for me when you read the last line ;)**

He was gone but there was still a very dim flicker of suppressed power not far from where Artemis and Zeus had followed Percy to. It seemed that he was making his way towards an old warehouse at the end of yet another alley. There was a thunderous roar of a motorcycle somewhere behind them and that was the list thing they heard before ducking into the alley to follow Percy.

Once inside they were suppressed to see that it was mostly empty save for some shipping containers in the far side. What the Hell was he up to? Artemis' piercing gaze homed in on him, standing underneath one of the only lights illuminating the dull warehouse. He didn't seem to notice them or perhaps he just didn't care. This didn't feel like the Percy that she had come to find herself entirely at his mercy, no, this was Death, the one that was absolutely shadowed by the raw power rolling off of him in waves.

"So the Horseman comes at last." They heard a deep gravelly voice that held fire in it. There was malice, and lots of it.

"Lucifer." His response was completely neutral. "How have you escaped the frozen lake of tears?" Percy asked, cocking his head to the side by an almost minute degree. Out of the shadows, a tall well built man walked forwards in a very dark red suit. His eyes were narrow draconic slits of the same color. He had two small jet black horns sticking out of his forehead, gently brushing against the jet black hair.

"I have found myself some leeway from that wretched prison. Though I cannot fully bring all of my power with me for this little day trip. And I have to say, I am very impressed with you Death. Your Wrath seemingly knows NO bounds." Lucifer suddenly grinned. Artemis and Zeus continued forwards, making themselves known. She pulled a bow out of thin air and took aim at the Fallen Angel who almost laughed her show of bravery.

"Artemis?" Percy looked at her with a raised eyebrow and that was it. That was all he offered her. She didn't get the chance to speak to him as Lucifer had started clapping.

"Your bravado impresses me but give it a few minutes and you won't be aiming that bow at me, dear." His sinister smile was what unnerved her but his silver tongue had caught her off guard.

"What?" Before she'd got another word in, Lucifer had thrown a small black sigil of stone at her. It was too fast for her to even move out of the way. It hit heart chest dead on before breaking into two trails of smoke that engulfed her entirely.

"NO!" Percy's booming voice shook the very foundations of the warehouse. The whole warehouse had been plunged into absolute chaos from the moment Artemis had been hit with the stone. Famine had phased her way through a wall, half carrying a yawning Conquest who she promptly dropped on the floor, not that it bothered him any.

Zeus let a brilliant bolt of raw lightning fly from his arm and slam straight into Lucifer who needed two hands to hold off the magnificent power of the enraged King of the Gods. If he'd been able to hold every last bit of power he'd stolen from Percy's Wrath, then it may have been a very different case. Unfortunately, that was every last bit of power Zeus had and beyond forcing Lucifer to sue two hands, it hadn't done a single thing.

It was too late... Percy hadn't seen it coming, the REAL reason that he'd been following this trail. Lucifer had held the sigil of Lust all along, just waiting for the right time to force it upon his intended target.

"Shit, Conquest we're too late!" Famine cursed, immediately appearing by Death's side.

Conquest yawned heavily from the floor before raising his hand to show that he'd heard his sister. "You go on without me, I'm gonna take a nap." He responded before his body went limp and he did exactly that, not even caring about the fact that he was surrounded by Gods, Horsemen and Lucifer.

"I don't know how you've done it Lucifer but I assume she was the last one to your plan. So tell me, what exactly have you done in your effort to destroy me?" Percy's eyes held a dangerously dark hue to them as he returned his focus to Lucifer. Zeus held the unconscious body of Artemis in his arms. Her hair had changed from a shimmering silver to a tainted version with streaks of black running down it. Her entire body had a thin veil of darkness flowing over her like an evil aura. The same would have been said for Conquest but he was simply too powerful for the secondary effects of the Sins to overwhelm him like it had done to Artemis.

"I'm glad you asked. I had the weakest seal pushed into the boy, your brother as I understand, only to test the limits of power that you would have with all seven seals restricting you. I was impressed, so naturally I came up with a brilliant plan. I'd take away the major player of your close alliance, therefore forcing you to fight against your own Sins alone." Lucifer cackled maniacally as he devised his master plan. It was all starting to make sense to Percy.

"Jude was Envy. You remember that sin don't you? Way back when you were first thrust into the depths of Hell. The sheer envy that you had over anyone who didn't have to fight to survive in my circles. That was the first thing that sent you down a dark path." Lucifer's wicked smile only grew with each passing word. He was single handedly unwrapping Percy as if it were nothing.

Famine just stared in shock before backing away slightly. 'Percy' she knew that was his name since day one but she refused to call him anything but Death. In the back, Conquest slowly rose to his feet, interested in what the Fallen Angel had to say regarding all of this.

"But you killed him and left him unconscious at Tartarus' feet. Subjected to a life of torture as he made the critical mistake of betraying Death himself. That left six Sins for me to play around with and make a strong team to kill you. You see, YOU are the key to my prison. What could they ensure would keep me locked away for eternity? Why, Death itself of course." Lucifer pulled his blood red suit jacket off before it vanished. He stood there in half a suit, rolling his sleeves up. It was evident that he expected a fight, if not just to test the absolute limits of Percy's power.

"So then I had that mortal pushed with Greed because, you know, my plan was already fulfilled at that point and I just wanted to see how she'd fare if we'd taken your family hostage, but hey, you didn't even know about it!" Lucifer couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

By the time Conquest had finally gotten to the point where he was by Death and Famine's side, he was aching all over.

"Oh yeah, then there was this lazy bastard. I thought that by giving Conquest a double shot of Sloth that he'd end up at least rivaling your somewhat unrestricted power, but so far all he's done is smoked an entire acre of weed fields for the past five months." That one definitely got under the Fallen Angel's skin. Percy glanced at Conquest who merely shrugged with a lazy grin.

"Sadly you Horseman are simply too powerful to be subjected by my will of evil. At least he's not going to be that much use to you either. So that made three, or at least three in the planning stage, but that was all set for the future, we need to go back to when this all started. I chose your Wrath because it was positively buzzing with power. That one was the easy choice. The hardest part of all of this was definitely trying to find a way to give HER-" Lucifer pointed at the bright flash by his side. When the light was gone, Uriel was floating above the ground gracefully. "The power of your Pride. Of course it was only ever going to be Pride that would worm its way through this ones head but still, she's an excellent slave to me." Percy's eyes widened in a worryingly calm rage that was building up inside him. He'd made Uriel his slave after forcing HIS Pride upon her. That was just not acceptable.

"The rest were easy, I had someone personally throw the sigil of Gluttony as far out into space as possible. Your idiot horse swallowed it whole and thus-" The Fallen Angel snapped his fingers. Out of the shadows, Blackjack rode forwards, enveloped in a thick layer of wisps of black and purple smoke that flowed around his body randomly. Blackjack's mind was no longer his own.

"And then the grand finally which could only be achieved with you here, the main lady herself! Featuring Artemis as 'Lust'" Lucifer's laughter echoed off of the walls and ceiling of the old warehouse when Artemis rose form the floor. A movement too quick for Zeus to react to was the thing that sent him sprawling into the corner of the warehouse, an unconscious crumble of God.

Percy was surrounded by his friends that were under Lucifer's spell.

"Oh man this is heavy. I need a joint." Conquest groaned casually before pulling a long wrapped paper out of his pocket and lighting it.

"Your passive defiance to my power irks me awfully." Lucifer glared at Conquest who just shrugged with a playful grin and a middle finger elegantly placed in the Fallen Angel's line of sight.

"So you took my Angel, took my love, tried to take my brother and even took my horse. You believe that with all of them PLUS yourself that you can even come close to my power?" Percy asked him seriously, lifting his head so that the light finally illuminated his face. Death was angry, and that was something that everyone feared.

"Oh he is pissed. Unlucky Lucy, it looks like you'll be the first to fade." Conquest laughed at his own little pun before a blast of air pushed him over. Famine fared better against it because Conquest's body had initially blocked most of it. The air was evading Death's vicinity, replaced by raw power as the Horsemen released all of his self placed restraints. Darkness shrouded their vision of him before fading once again, revealing the true form of Death. He no longer wore a brilliant suit but instead he was shin high leather boots, topped with leather hunting trousers the color of the night. No top visible underneath his long thick obsidian black leather coat. The only thing that brought his clothes away from being completely unseen was the ornate silver stitches running the length of his coat. Death had awoken and was ready to fight.

"Conquest, can you fight?" Percy asked, his voice as cold as ice.

"Bro, I'm stoned not inept." Conquest laughed, pulling his bow out of nowhere, "Though, it might be a better idea if I use a sword. Who knows where these arrows might end up." He muttered to himself before ending his sentence with an immature chuckle. He'd been imagine shooting Lucifer in the ass with them.

Conquest's reverie of immature trick shots on the Fallen Angel had been broken by Death's cold voice. "Famine, can you fight?" He asked the same question as he'd asked their brother.

"Better than he can right now." She turned her back to them to find herself facing off against Artemis. This would be a hard fight for her, firstly Artemis was a capable Goddess as it was but instilled with the sin of Lust? Things could go badly.

Percy didn't offer either of them anymore words, instead he used the height of his power to strike first, in mere nanoseconds, he'd pushed himself in front of the Fallen Angel and sliced at the air. Everything stopped still for seconds as everyone registered that his hands were no longer empty but instead he was holding a long black scythe. The same scythe that he'd just cut Lucifer's shoddily cast image in half with. "Hmm." Lucifer hummed before he was turned to dust. That wasn't the last they'd see of Lucifer but that was no longer a concern of his. Conquest stumbled into a fight with Blackjack, both were probably far too hungry to fight but regardless, they had disappeared, probably to duke it out among the stars but that helped Percy's situation quite a bit. He didn't want to have to fight Blackjack and he certainly didn't want any harm to come to Artemis.

The fight was now down to Uriel who hadn't spoken a word to them at all, and Artemis against the Horsemen of Death and Famine. "Switch." Percy told Famine who nodded after dodging yet another arrow that had been sent towards her. Instead she focused on Uriel who she didn't have to hold back fighting against. This truly was the best situation.

"Artemis, listen to me, this isn't like you." Percy tried, he saw the look in her eye change from rage to something else that he'd never noticed before. She was reaching the final stages of the Sin already. She was adopting it as her own. It was the look of Lust.

"Hmm, Percy, how do you know that it's not like me? I'm changing." She told him, firing more arrows as she analyzed his body. "Baby, you can't fight a girl with that body of yours on show, that's just not fair." She pouted before launching a throwing knife at his face. He dodged it like every other projectile.

There was an explosion behind him as Uriel and Famine left the confines of the warehouse, presumably to fight it out in the skies above. There was a roar of a motorcycle that changed into that of an enraged horse. That was all the confirmation that Percy needed. That left just himself and Artemis. "I command that you snap out of this NOW!" Percy boomed before moving in faster than she could knock another arrow. He slapped the bow out of her hands and hooked his heel around hers before taking both of their bodies to the ground. He had her pinned by the arms and legs meaning that all she could do was thrash about hopelessly. He needed some way to get through to her and break this spell on her mind. If he could do that then he could rescue her from the torment she was going through because of his power. "Artemis..." His voice calling out her name was enough to get her to stop and just stare into his eyes as he brought his face closer to hers.

"Artemis, I-" He whispered it into her ear, making her freeze up completely.


	14. Chapter 14 - Absolution

**Chapter 14 – Absolution**

 **A/N: How does DonSocrates get around the cliché of Artemis' oath of chastity? In a completely original way because DonSocrates has moments of being an amazing author. He's never written about himself in the third person though and it's making him feel strange. He'd also like to remind you that the more reviews his stories get, the quicker he finds the motivation to write new chapters. He loves you all.**

"Artemis, I-" Percy's voice became nothing more than a whisper as he reached down to her ear. What he had to say was going to change everything.

"Izizop. Iocli. Ial." Three words that flew through her mind before the evil inside her head could prevent it. Percy, being Death, was able to cast out an incredibly powerful ancient enochian spell that brought forth the foreign power belonging to Lucifer that was pushed within her body, from there he could burn it out completely.

It was risky and he had to sacrifice the power from the seal of Lust in order to pull it all off, but in destroying that portion of his power, he had saved Artemis' life. The sin of Lust would remain as in imprint within the Goddess' body and all of the power that had belonged to that seal would eventually restore itself within her, so not only had he given up that particular portion of his power, but he'd actually assimilated it to her own already vast reserves of power. Perhaps now she'd give him an even better fight, if she could resist the natural instincts that would be effecting her from the 'lust'.

She was once again out cold. He felt an explosion far above him where Famine was fighting Uriel. Those two could cause some serious problems if Percy didn't deal with them sooner rather than later. The lone Archangel, the last of her kind. Percy had been through a lot with Uriel when she had stumbled across him trapped inside a vortex of time. It was meant to be Kronos' final attack against the Savior of Olympus but even in the face of Time, Percy had stood strong and defied even the unstoppable. After his one hundred and fifty years in Tartarus, he'd been thrust back into the time vortex, forever running through Hell just to survive. Three months had passed for the mortals and the demi-gods. Seven years of Percy's life were stretched out in the eyes of the Gods, but even Gods were oblivious to the years upon years that he had actually spent constantly fighting against Kronos' lasting effect. It was in those seven years in Hell that Percy met Uriel and fought side by side with her. She had at first seen him as a Demon but his own personal mission to slaughter Hell itself proved her wrong of that. She was going to be an incredibly strong opponent, especially considering the amount of raw overwhelming power had been held inside Pride's seal.

Zeus bolted upright from where he'd been a crumpled mess on the floor. Percy had to admit, he looked a lot better as a young God. "Lord Zeus." He nodded slowly. He knew from memories of old ones what Zeus' unbound wrath could feel like, even to a Horseman it would sting.

"Is she alive?" He asked quietly. He'd witnessed his daughter become subjected to Percy's sealed away power, even one as low as 'Lust' packed more power than half of the Council combined.

"Yes. In order to save her, I sacrificed my own power that was forced upon her in order to destroy Lucifer's control. She'll wake in a few days, with my power on top of her own. I can't destroy the seal itself though or she'll die, completely." Percy explained, standing up with Artemis cradled in his arms. Conquest and Blackjack were now fighting around Pluto. Percy was amazed at how fast they'd gotten there. It had only been minutes at most, though they did both now have some of his power.

"Are there any side effects of that?" Zeus asked, glancing down at one of his favored daughters.

"I'm afraid so. Seeing as I can't destroy the seal, she'll likely take on it's characteristics, much like my brother Conquest has. This usually wouldn't be a problem, especially for the Gods, but seeing as it's Artemis, it presents quite the calamity." Percy's words were slow and heavy, he was hoping that Zeus would catch on before he had to spell it out.

"And that means?" The way the King of the Gods had asked the question, made Percy believe that he was doing it on purpose. A test to see if Death could feel social awkwardness perhaps?

"It means that Artemis will be stricken by Lust from time to time. Now, I'm not saying that she's going to become Aphrodite, but there is a good chance she'll be needing to review her vow if I cannot fix her." Percy had stopped talking to Zeus, instead it became evident that Death was talking to himself, a mental battle about how he could restore Artemis to herself.

"You care about her a lot, don't you?" Zeus looked on with a small smile forming on his face. He never thought he'd see the day that there truly was someone to take up the mantle of taking care of Artemis.

"Yes Zeus, I do. Besides everything else that I've been through with her in such a short frame of time, she was also the first person to see my true form and not be afraid of Death. She saw Percy inside." He said, smiling as he looked up.

"Here, please take her to Apollo. She's got a lot of fatigue that I cannot heal. I have to attend to my rogue sins." He handed her over to Zeus who nodded and flashed away leaving only a faint rumble of thunder in his wake. Percy knew that the Gods of Olympus would be watching him now, there was no way around it. Blackjack and Conquest could wait, there were very little to no threat at all. Famine was up there fighting an Archangel of Pride. Lucifer had been pounded back into the lake of tears, so Wrath was still imprisoned.

Percy no longer had to worry about any threat from Envy, Greed or Lust. Sloth and Gluttony were too far away, Wrath was caged which left just one sin to attend to. Pride. Percy slowly raised his hand, looking at his palm where Artemis had grabbed his hand to tight from the pain his enochian spell had caused. It was sloppy, but that was what happened when Death used angelic magic.

With a single moment of intense pressure, the whole warehouse erupted into dust and smoke as Death shot into the air. Unseen black wings propelled him on. Famine no longer had to fight, this was Death's duty to recall his own sins.

Famine saw him approaching from the corner of her eye, she rode a black horse once again. Uriel glanced at Percy approaching. They were so high that having mist cover their movements from the mortals eyes wasn't even an issue.

"You wish to fight me?" She questioned.

"Famine, go help Conquest. Don't hurt my horse though." Death commanded. Famine visibly gulped just from the tone Percy held. There was no way she was going to disobey him right now. She'd never seen him lose his cool like this before and truly she wasn't sure what was to happen to the planet when he was like this. There were too many that he cared about though.

"You didn't answer my question." Uriel pressed. Her four wings fluttered gracefully as she expertly kept herself aloft.

"Do I want to fight you? 'Fight' suggests that you'll be able to get me back. This is so one sided that it's not even comical. Fight? Don't be ridiculous. No, this is absolution of a certain sin that's run it's course." Percy told her before a black scythe shimmered in the air. Was he really prepared to erase her existence? She may have denied him all that time ago but it was still Uriel and she would never have fought against him if she wasn't under Lucifer's control.

Even though he had enough power to fight off Uriel, he couldn't help but think back to Artemis. She'd gone to Tartarus for him, even felt sorrow when he'd been thrown into Hell. She'd kissed him when he'd found her again. What was the extent of the feeling he held for her? Zeus wasn't wrong, and he hadn't lied. He DID care about her, a lot more than anything else in this world or the next. What was that feeling called?

Could Death love?

 **A/N: What weirdo wrote that opening A/N?**


	15. Chapter 15 - The Echo Of Death

**Chapter 15 – The Echo Of Death**

 **A/N: I swear to all that is holy I tried to update sooner but... Shit happens. Anyway, I'll put extra writing prowess into this chapter to make up for my slackery, sound good?**

A shockwave erupted several hundreds of thousands of miles above the Earth's atmosphere, it was the furthest that Uriel the last remaining Archangel had ever been away from the mortal realm. The majority of her power and that borrowed power from the insidiously tainted seal that had been forced upon her by Lucifer, was being used to ensure that her corporeal body wasn't burning away from the unyielding large power that was oozing out of Death.

He had decimated the seal of Envy that had been instilled within his own younger brother and he had gently taken the life of the poor mortal that had been stricken by Greed. To Uriel that meant that Death was so far unrestricted by the two lower seals that he had placed upon himself, his power was irradiating around his body, the unrelenting power was causing an unbearable pressure that was swarming them both as they gently and gracefully floated through the vast emptiness of the space surrounding them.

With only a simply raise of his hand, he had willed himself and Uriel to be brought far away from the mortals, where he would be able to fight her properly without having to worry about the safety of those who were not yet fated to feel the cold embrace of Death.

Far away from the Angel and the Reaper, Conquest and Blackjack were having their own battle, throughout an entire solar system almost simultaneously as they zipped from place to place both of them trying to outrun the other in an attempt to strike out against one another. Conquest's defense and natural durability was far too high for Blackjack to even inflict any damage on him in the first place and Conquest's issue was that Death had specifically asked him not to hurt his horse. Easier said than done considering the damn beast was almost as powerful as Conquest was after ingesting that stupid seal.

"Blackjack, reign your mind in, do as I have done! I was subjected to Death's sin of Sloth and so far the only adverse side effects have been that I've taken on the characteristics of sloth itself!" Conquest's voice was naught but a booming echo to the vast voids around them yet to Blackjack it was like flying through a canyon of speakers all amped up to '11'.

Blackjack didn't offer a response but it was obvious to Conquest that the horse was doubting the ingrained orders from the very beginning. It wasn't merely a phantom steed that Percy had been honored with, it was HIS horse to begin with. He had used his own power to make his trusted steed ascend his strange existence and become the phantom horse of Death. It was usually the place of the pale horse but this Death had a thing about a black color scheme.

"Blackjack!" Conquest's voice had quickly switched to that of rage, "I'm seriously getting pissed off with this now, all I want to do is take a nap, why must you be the one I'm fighting!?" It was apparent that he was more venting his frustrations than actually expecting an answer from the horse who was now busy turning around to start his attack against the Horseman.

Before Blackjack got the chance to land a strike, the shockwave Death had caused had finally caught up to them followed by a harrowing voice that had come about as nothing more than a whisper in the emptiness around them.

"Yield to me." Was all it was yet the fact that he'd caused a pocket of air to constantly move through the universe always containing his words that were forever moving at the same speed as the expanding shock-wave itself just went to show how much power Death held at his finger tips.

Blackjack's body was engulfed in a strange light before all traces of malevolence had been extinguished. Death had sent out a pulse within his voice that had destroyed the seal in Blackjack. "What the Hell was that?" Conquest asked. He already knew, he just wanted to see whether or not Blackjack was really Blackjack again.

"That was our brother calling out to his power." A feminine voice echoed right beside Conquest's ear. He turned to see Famine sitting proudly on her horse. "I suspect you may have already felt it but just in case your brain is still adversely affected by Sloth I'll put it into words for you. Death just demanded that his sins return to him from nothing more than a shout." Famine explained, looking down with an analytically eye on Conquest. As it turned out, the seal within Conquest still remained, as did the one inside Artemis' body but Death had purposely left that one alone, not willing to risk her life force being shattered alongside the seal. It was a gamble with Blackjack and Percy hadn't even been sure whether he'd be able to get the seal out of Conquest at all, the other Horseman was simply too strong.

"Dude, that's so fucking metal." Conquest whispered before letting out a rather prolonged yawn that served only to frustrate Famine that much more. They should both have been by Death's side from the very beginning when Lucifer had begun to spread his seals of power around but as of yet they had only entered during the end game.

"Yes well, metal as it may be, he's currently taking that Angel apart and from what I can gather, he seems to be either rebuilding her and then changing his mind before starting from scratch, OR..." Famine paused for a moment as if the hesitation was something that she clearly didn't want to voice because of her own uncertainty in the matter.

"Or?" Conquest pushed, snapping his fingers he summoned his own horse. Finally at the same height as Famine they both started riding back towards the Earth and the Soul Forge respectively. The two of them had very powerful steeds that could quite easily cover the distance that Conquest and Blackjack had managed in decent time.

"Or he's simply torturing her for all of the difficulty she's caused." Famine almost whispered. Death's mentality had never bordered on the obscene or for that matter anything to do with torture, it just wasn't like him. Death had always done his duties without directly interfering with the natural order of life and death, nobody knew that better than him, that had been why the old Death had hated immortals, because they disrupted the order.

"He's not one for torture, not after being subjected to a hundred and fifty odd years of it as a mortal." Conquest concurred confidently. His brother was far removed from what he had been as a mortal and as Death he was a being above all in example.

"I'm well aware of that, but it does beg the question of why he keeps stopping and starting over." Famine continued, trying to get Conquest to see the problem underneath the surface. Why would Death do anything like that? He wouldn't put the Angel through that much pain in any situation unless he was trying to spare her existence, they had at one point been friends after all.

"Starting over in rebuilding the Archangel?" Conquest queried, more to make sure that he was still following the correct conversation. His thought process had become a little bit hazy from all of the marijuana he'd been smoking in the collective months.

"Yes, he's killing parts of her off before resurrecting them differently, perhaps he's trying to build her so that she cannot be turned by Lucifer's power anymore." Famine reasoned. She was looking for any reason not to see Death turning sour from personal anger, that would mean terrible things would be coming their way if Death could be swayed negatively.

"That would sound about right, anyway, she'll soon no longer have the sin of Pride upon her, Blackjack is free of Gluttony, I need a joint and Artemis is... Um, what's happening with Artemis?" Conquest had realized that he'd started his intergalactic battle with Blackjack before he'd seen of what had become of Artemis. He doubted that Death would let Famine fight against the one he'd come to value above all others.

"At this point in time she's unconscious because Death used an enochian spell on her to keep her alive when he tried to take the seal out of her." Famine's face turned to one of extreme focus, she too was trying to figure out the same questions that were appearing in Conquest's mind, the only difference was that Conquest was currently high as a kite.

"Why would her seal be any different to deal with than the rest of ours?" He asked her, no longer being able to think of the simpler answers to their dilemma with the strongest Horseman.

"Because Lucifer saw a budding romance between Death and Artemis, just a small thing on the horizon, so he decided that he wouldn't use her as a player who could fight our brother but rather one that could take him down through other means. The seal that held Death's sin of Lust was rigged from the very beginning, specifically to do more harm to Artemis if it was ever removed." Famine's words struck true. Conquest had been wondering why her of all people had been given Lust, he'd expected it to be someone far stronger than the Goddess of the Hunt but after hearing that she'd been given a more suicidal role in Lucifer's grand plan it started to make sense.

"That's... That's pretty brutal." Conquest almost chuckled at the typicality of Lucifer's thought pattern. It was typical of the Fallen Angel yet it had been so long since any of them had dealt with the

"Indeed." Famine agreed quickly yet quietly as she was still deep in thought about how she could help this situation instead of further worsen it. The absolute last thing she wanted was Death angry with her.

"What an asshole." Conquest muttered with a yawn, he'd been FAR too active for his own liking, he really needed to just chill out in the Soul Forge until this business with Death blew over for the better. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up with everything that was going on.

"We should return to the Soul Forge, Death will probably go there for a rest after exerting so much power." Famine reasoned before casually changing the direction they were riding. Conquest followed suit after realizing that it was his best chance to have another joint and a nap.

"Either that or he'll be busy dealing with Artemis who if my situation is anything to go by, will probably be stricken with Lust. Wonder how Death'll actually deal with that." Conquest laughed. He imagined Death being totally overwhelmed by the chaotic difference in personality that Artemis was about to wake up for, after all, what with it being Death's power influencing her moods, she was only ever going to be stricken with lust for HIM.

 **A/N: OK, only a quick chapter today because it's now ten past four in the morning but I really wanted to get one out, I may write an entire chapter tomorrow to make up for the past couple of months. Review?**


	16. Chapter 16 - Conflict Of The Four

**Chapter 16 – Conflict Of The Four**

 **A/N: Y'all about to see some serious shit go down. No Artemis just yet, that's gonna take some serious work to pull of but when she's introduced as the NEW Artemis, I promise that you'll love her ;)**

 **I've also noticed that you all seem to like Conquest quite a lot, shall I keep him constantly stoned or switch it up between him just having small 'bouts' of Sloth?**

Percy's fight with Uriel had been the most one sided thing there ever was, even before it had begun he had called out to his remaining seals. Gluttony had been safely recalled from Blackjack yet Sloth hadn't budged from within Conquest but that didn't quite matter as it was safely under control when it was in Conquest's possession.

Percy had torn Uriel apart piece by piece before rebuilding her as a far better being. The last Archangel was no longer at risk of existing strictly through memory. Percy had forced her to resurrect as someone who could no longer be influenced by Lucifer in any way and in return she promised to stay clear of him unless he asked her to intervene.

Deciding that he had no further need to visit Olympus as he was finally starting to get his power under control, that and the fact that Artemis was still unconscious and probably would be for a few more days, despite whatever healing Apollo could do. Percy had retired to the Soul Forge, an endless void which acted as the closest thing to a home that the Four Horsemen would ever have yet it was an incredible rarity that all four of them would ever be in the same place. Famine was often seeing to her own people, none of them really knew what War did in his downtime, usually teaching baby planets how the natural order went.

Percy appeared out of the side of the wall that Conquest was so used to seeing him enter through. Famine was casually sitting on the leather sofa that overlooked the actual forge and the door that led to the rest of the place. "You're both here which I assume means that while he's no doubt still on a frenzy of eating planets, Blackjack is still alive?" Percy asked them both. Famine nodded with a faint smile on show. She was glad to finally be able to sit down after everything they'd all been through recently. Of course her workload hadn't been quite as heavy as Death's but she was the one that had to deal with Conquest and that was no easy task when he was... _Normal,_ but while he was straight up stoned was an entirely different case.

"Hey bro, I felt that hardcore summon that you sent out, knocked the Gluttony right out of old Blackjack, sadly Sloth hasn't budged at all but I think I'm starting to get a handle on it." Conquest commented when he noticed that Percy had arrived. He was sat at a grind wheel, working on the white blade that had been stolen by Jude during the game of capture the flag they'd played over at Camp Half Blood.

"And by getting a handle on it, you mean that you're capable of working on weapons and armor while your condition hasn't changed at all?" Percy grinned with a raised eyebrow. His theory had only been confirmed when Conquest fully turned to face him, a long rolled paper hanging lazily from his mouth while he continued to sharped the white sword against the grind-wheel without looking.

"No, I meant that I'm periodically napping every five minutes, YES, of course that's what I meant Death. I had to chase your damn horse that was on a sugar high from multiple galaxies. You know how hard it is to chase a phantom horse WITHOUT A PHANTOM HORSE!?" Conquest demanded, there was no anger in his voice, it was just far more exclaimed because of his apparent exhaustion. It was starting to show on him, at least it was showing past the present signs of him being high as a kite.

"No, I don't because I've never had to chase down a phantom horse. You somehow managed it though even in your... Sensitive condition." Percy was really struggling to hold back his laughter. Famine had a few questions for their brother and decided that while he was there she may as well voice her queries.

"What brings you back here? I would have thought that after the Lady of the moon had been defiled by your sin of Lust that you would have taken to her side after dealing with the Archangel." Famine covertly covered her mouth to prevent them from noticing her yawning. She'd been on a constant journey ever since Death and Conquest's escapades in Tartarus. Firstly she'd been summoned by Chaos and that had been a few days of constant ride either way, then upon her return she'd found herself having to deal with all of that.

"Speaking of which, what did you do to the old bird brain?" Conquest interrupted with a grunt, not being acceptant of Angels on the extremely rare occasions that he'd crossed paths with one.

"Not fond of Angels are you?" Percy chuckled. He casually let his hand glide across the glass casing that held a very fractured blade that he had once yielded in Hell. It had been the single thing he'd put his faith in. One day Conquest would be able to reforge it but Percy needed to recover each and every single fragment of it first. It had the potential to become the strongest blade in his rapidly growing arsenal and that would be a very dangerous thing in itself.

The bare silver hilt was scratched and scathed from hundreds of conflicts. He'd slain Demons and monsters alike with that blade and felt sentimental towards it. Only a few more pieces and he'd be able to finally use it to accomplish his greatest task given by Chaos. The thought of that very task suddenly crossed his mind, the other three Horsemen still didn't know about it. The mission itself was one that was only to be started when Percy felt the time was right, and he felt that time would only be the present once he had his most prized possession back in working condition.

Percy had plenty to be focusing on anyway. He'd recovered his seal of Pride though but it was still intact. He was still thinking about how he should handle it, whether he should keep it hidden away in the Soul Forge somewhere or whether he should release it all back into himself. He should be able to handle somewhat near his full power, his mind had grown strong enough to accompany the near omnipotence that his full power brought with it.

"Why would I be? I serve the creator of the universe as one of her four chosen, Angels are just immortals with wings that spout their self centered righteousness. That actually makes me think and this is the only time I'll ever defend Lucifer but you've got to admit that he and his kin are at least honest in their intentions and motivations whether evil or mislead." Conquest's words pulled Percy out of his reverie and back into their reality in the Forge.

"Sorry, did you just..." Percy exchanged a glance with Famine who looked equally stunned by Conquest's rather bold statement, "Did you just ACTUALLY justify preferring Fallen Angels to regular Angels?" Percy asked him slowly, making sure that Conquest's words were truly his own and not influenced by the joint in his mouth. Chaos only knew how many he'd already had, or whether he'd actually ever stopped since he first began.

"Yeah, Fallen Angels might try to kill you but they'll never lie to you about their intentions to do so, Angels would though, they'll do all sorts in the name of their holy writes which were left behind by past civilizations. Angel's are dicks, fuck Angels." Conquest began muttering before finally giving up on sharpening his gleaming white sword. Before Percy could even form a cognitive response to Conquest's random perspective on the Angels, they all felt a faint pressure surrounding them before a huge suit of armor slowly made its way through the doorway opposite Famine and her comfortable leather sofa.

"And then there were four." Conquest muttered, feeling a very tense air envelope the room. He heard Famine curse under her breath, she too probably knew what was likely to happen.

"Oh? Death has returned from his quest to conquer virgin Goddesses? I'll be the first to admit, I never took you as the type to steal Goddesses' as trophies." War announced, his tone remaining entirely neutral the entire time. He had a flat personality and cared not for whom he insulted, though it was unwise that he'd chosen to directly insult Death.

"Change your tone War or I'll permanently destroy your corporeal body." Percy threatened with a dangerously low tone. It was obvious that his words were far more a promise than a threat, one that he would carry out without hesitation. He felt nothing for his brother who had barely managed to scrape together any sense of morality, constantly inflicting his domain upon civilizations that were barely beyond the point of basic communication.

"Without the power of your Lust, Pride and Wrath I'm confident that you wouldn't be able to do anything to me, _brother."_ So that was really happening, War had openly come to the Soul Forge to directly challenge Death, there was no other reason for him to have not only kept up to date with Death's misadventures but to have brought it up almost straight away.

Within the blink of an eye, the room was turned into a tunnel of gravity. Famine struggled to keep herself from being slammed against the floor through the sofa, Conquest was using both of his hands to keep himself upright and War had been forced to his knees, the metal armor echoing around the Soul Forge with a loud bang where his knees had cracked through the floor.

"Full power or only a fraction of my power I am still Death. Reign yourself in War or you'll be permanently erased from existence. Get your attitude checked while you're at it." Percy told him. The sea green that had been worming its way into his eyes was quickly replaced by emotionless black orbs of sheer cold and hostility.

War struggled immensely against the overwhelming power flowing from the Horseman that was still standing. "Is that all you've got in you? You've shown me the height of your power and proven that if I used all of mine then I could kill you and force you into an eternal sleep!" War spat.

"I am the Lord of the Last Day!" Percy responded, his voice now laden with small spurs of wrath. "I will just have to put you in your place." He whispered before closing his fist around the small rock he had been holding. As if on cue, all of the power he'd stored inside the seal of Pride had returned to it's rightful master. Now he was fully in control of the game, Artemis he would deal with when she awoke, Conquest and the sin of Sloth was not among his concerns, and that left only Lucifer himself to deal with. One last trip to Hell, one last fight with the first Fallen Angel, then he could focus on dealing with Gaea and Tartarus who were determined to be yet another thorn in his side.

Before Percy could actually go through with his intentions of beating some sense into War, the Horseman had disappeared, and Percy greatly feared that he knew exactly where he'd gone, especially as he'd been thinking about it only moments prior.

A few seconds passed before the pressure had disappeared, leaving Famine and Conquest to return to more comfortable positions.

"Lord of the Last Day, how nostalgic, haven't heard that since the old Death got angry with War, oh the memories." Famine sighed.

"The painful memories." Conquest agreed before cracking his back.

"Sorry, I got ahead of myself slightly. His day will come, sooner than he seems to believe, especially if he'd going to side with Gaea and Tartarus just to spite me." Percy announced with a heavy sigh. He shouldn't have had to deal with that. Gaea and Tartarus would never have been a problem for him before but if War was truly going to act like a scorned child then things would be problematic, especially if he hadn't dealt with Lucifer and reclaimed his Wrath before War made his first move.

Percy casually sent a glance towards his sword that was in pieces on the wall. "Want me to find the last few fragments and reforge her now?" Conquest asked, finally standing to meet his brother.

"No, the time hasn't yet come for that. I will deal with War's tantrums when he surfaces to vent his anger. In the meantime, there's a Goddess that needs my attention on Olympus." He told them before starting to walk towards the wall he'd entered through.

"I'm sure you'll be giving her some kind of attention, good luck brother." Famine remarked with a sly smirk on shown. Neither Death nor Conquest gave her any recognition that they'd cared for her comment but she wasn't wrong. Artemis was going to be far more than a handful, Percy could already tell. He could literally see the strings of light that represented the bond between them and those chains had only become magnificently larger since the ordeal with the seal.

Now that she was awake, how was she going to remain herself when he arrived? He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but what he got when he did arrive had NOT been it!

 **A/N: What do you think's gonna happen with Percy's sword? What do you think (it's immensely far forward foreshadowing) the Lord of the Last Day represents? What do you think is actually gonna happen with War/Gaea/Tartarus? And what do you think is about to happen when Percy and Artemis finally come face to face as Death and Lust incarnate? ;)**


	17. Chapter 17 - Lust

**Chapter 17 – Lust**

 **A/N: Guess I've kept you guys waiting long enough for Artemis' reappearance huh? Sorry about that, I've been working on some side projects on a new account. You guys might quite like what I've started, go read the Dragon Hunter, it's under a different author's name, Andorax. I was gonna have Apollo and Percy fight but I think pretty much ALL of you just want to see Artemis and Percy.**

Olympus grew a few degrees colder in the space of a single second. "What the fu-" Apollo muttered before he saw the thing that had caused the strange temperature drop. Percy Jackson was striding up the steps that led to the throne room of the Olympian council.

"Perseus." Apollo caught his attention quickly. Percy's gaze fell upon the hideous colour scheme of Apollo's temple. "Father has been waiting for you to return. I've done what I can for Arty but honestly? There's not a whole lot that I CAN do, it's your power that's turning her world upside down, I think only you would be able to reverse such a thing." Apollo explained, not happy with being the first person to be subjected to Death's cold vicinity.

Percy was yet to actually say anything but it was obvious he wasn't ignoring the sun God as he'd actually stopped and looked like he was trying to think of a response or a way to reverse the malicious evil that Lucifer had set upon the sin of Lust.

"I'll speak with Zeus briefly before I see to Artemis. I did what I could to stop her from being killed by Lucifer, I fear that I may not be able to do much either." Percy's tone was cold and emotionless, enough so for Apollo to pick up on it.

"Has something happened Perce?" He asked the reaper. Apollo subconsciously had started to rub his arms, every moment that Percy spent there, the air had become bitter and was starting to affect Apollo.

"What makes you say that?" Percy asked him quietly, not noticing the little things that were beyond one such as himself. Without saying a word, Apollo breathed out which let off a highly visible cloud of steam.

"Apologies Apollo, there's a lot on my mind at the moment." Percy snapped his fingers, dispersing the cold that had been lingering. The Lord of the Last Day was what was on his mind the most, once he'd finished his business with his Sins he could leave the Earth behind, at least, that was his plan after he finished recasting his sword.

"Right well, father isn't here at the moment and while I have absolutely no doubts that you could summon him wherever and whenever you like, I would appreciate it if you can see to Artemis as soon as possible, Zeus can wait, she can't." Apollo's words were full of hope that the man known as Death would be able to resolve the huge issue at bay, if he couldn't then Artemis may soon perish because of the volume of power in her body.

"Fine." Was all Percy responded with before instantly disappearing. It always made Apollo jump because unlike the Gods, there was no signal that Percy was leaving or arriving or that he was ever there in the first place, it was just a constant feeling that Percy just... Existed everywhere simultaneously.

A dimly lit room was the place Percy had found himself standing in the centre of, a powerful person stalked at the edges of the room, a pair of eyelids opened up to reveal a floating pair of silver eyes just staring at him intently.

"I'm not sure I want to know WHY Apollo actually has a room with no entrance or exit and a bunch of powerful restraining seals over it." Percy announced with a gruff grunt.

"Percy?" Artemis almost purred his name out but she still stayed at the edge of the room.

"Can I assume that you've been locked away because of that nasty seal inside you?" He asked, taking a single step towards her to which she mirrored perfectly, "That despite the enochian magic I used on you that the seal still took hold?" Another step from Percy, another step from Artemis. "That despite everything that has happened you still can't resist against my power?" One last step from Percy.

One last step from Artemis before thy were mere inches away from one another. She was glowing with his power, her eyes shunting between silver and black, her hair almost constantly flowing from a non-existent breeze. The thing that disturbed Percy the most was her gaze was predatory. He had almost all of his power back but against Artemis, he wouldn't use a single spit of it if it would hurt her.

"Or maybe I was just sick of having absolutely no reason to be able to get what I want." Artemis began before pacing around Percy, trailing a single finger across his chest when she did. "I found dead end after dead end when I thought of what I meant to you. I know there was SOMETHING but you're far too busy playing around with the end of creation, your stupid broken blade and the requests of Chaos to be giving a silly little Goddess your time and attention." Percy didn't like the implication of what was behind Artemis' laced words.

"That ends NOW!" She screamed, taking him by surprise a little bit. She was finally back in front of him, "You can't run away from me any more. "I fought against it at first but the more I fought the more I realized that this was the only way to get to you, to get exactly what I want. It might be rough around the edges, but..." She stopped and simply placed a finger against her lips, her tongue gently touching it. "I can deal with rough." Before he got a chance to react, she had moved at speeds that Gods shouldn't have been able to move at. So she'd accepted the sin of Lust and actually taken it's power for herself willingly. She wouldn't be doing Lucifer's bidding or carrying out any of his orders because those had all been burned out by the enochian magic but that didn't change the fact that Artemis was super powered and had her prey in sight.

She tackled him brutally to the ground, seizing his face before smashing her lips against his, pushing her tongue forwards to get purchase against his own. Trying to get his wits about him, Percy tried to push her away from him but she was exponentially stronger now.

Finally Artemis decided that she was moving on from his lips, "Fuck you're so much stronger, that's just so unfair!" Percy cried as he slipped and arm through her knee and flipped her over his head before getting to his knees. Before he got to his feet he was once again tackled to the floor.

"How the fuck has this even been possible, hey-HEY!" Percy flipped Artemis onto her back and held her hands against the ground to stop her from stripping him of his clothes. "Cut that out right now Artemis, I came in here willingly to try and help you sort this out, not to be assaulted, albeit the kiss was nice after the initial surprise but at least warn me next time!" His voice made the very foundations of Olympus rumble from the sheer power he held. Artemis remembered for a split-second just who he was but that was just it wasn't it?

"This is YOUR power in my body, I can't help it. I had remained fine until you came along and then my skin was on fire. I just-I can't not have this Percy. If you won't give me what I want willingly then I am going to take it by force, don't think I can't." Artemis told him, the fire in her eyes only growing in passion after each passing moment, she wasn't going to let him go this time.

"I'd like to see you-" Percy was cut off by the sounds of the world rushing past them.

"-try, the fuck?" He asked, looking around to find that they were in a forest in the dark of night, now both rolling down the side of a hill. Artemis broke free from Percy grasp and grabbed his face once more.

"Here's your warning." She told him before her tongue was ferociously battling against his own. It was different from before. He was kissing her back this time and even while they were still rolling, his hands had found their place on her waist.

"Argh!" Percy's eyes went so violently bright green that Artemis was absolutely certain that she'd broken through that cold demeanour once more. It was raw emotion and feeling erupting from him.

"Stop resisting and fu-" Artemis began before stopping them both from rolling with her on top of him.

"No!" He shot back quickly.

"-ck me!" Artemis pinned Percy's wrists down like he had done to her earlier. The game was in her hands when she had such a level of control over him. If she could keep it like this then there was no way that he'd not give her what she wanted.

"Artemis, will you stop being a pain in my ass?" He proclaimed before sighing heavily. He did NOT have the time to be dealing with her like this, it was taking way too much of his power to even restrain her and his actual feelings towards it were quickly turning south, he wasn't sure exactly how much he would be able to deny her.

"What, you want to be in my ass instead?" She giggled briefly whilst still constantly squirming above him. He felt her hips rub against his inner thighs and mentally cursed her. How the hell was she so good at turning him on for someone who had sworn off men for all eternity?

"Fuck sake it's even making you say things you wouldn't normally." He whined. It was so typical that he would be the one to end up in this situation, being sexually besieged by a virgin Goddess.

"What, the whole 'fuck me right now' thing didn't give that away." She asked him seductively, licking out eagerly at a small spot of ichor that she'd shed when they'd tumbled down the hill.

"Just please calm down." He begged her.

"No, you've got a job to do mister." She told him like a scolding mother.

"You're not my mother, you can't tell me what to do." He glared at her because right now he wasn't in a great position to argue. She held all of the power here.

"You're not my father but I'll still call you daddy." She announced before trying to go in for another kiss only for Percy to pull his head away. To Artemis, it was now merely as difficult as a child's game. She had him totally cornered because of the fact that he wasn't willing to hurt her, it was a dirty tactic to rely on that but it was the only way.

"OK, I'm ending this right now." Percy demanded before rolling them over once more, finally seeing his chance to leave and get away from her but Artemis was once step ahead of him.

"Only as long as-" She reached up, hooking her legs around his and biting down into the soft part of his neck, tumbling them both over yet again.

"You end in me. Now you will not deny me any longer Percy." Artemis whispered in his ear. Ripping her top away from her body in one quick motion. Her hands had started to explore Percy's rock hard chest.

"Fuck sa-"Percy muttered before being interrupted by Artemis' soft bite once again.

"What was that?" She whispered. She was inside his mind now and there was literally nothing that he could do.

"F-... I... F-fu-" He stuttered, having found no foundation to fight back against her.

"Yes?" She asked, seeing the finish line.

"Fuck!" Percy cursed before he was on top of her and biting on HER neck.

"Yes! Finally!" Artemis shouted triumphantly before they disappeared from the dark forest in a bright flash of silver.

 **A/N: Sorry, were you expecting more? I'm not sure I'm fond of this chapter, way too rushed but you all really wanted the next chapter and guess what? I hadn't started it until like two hours ago, so no complaining. Or complain, makes no difference to me, I only take notice of the reviews anyway so if you want to voice your complaint, make a review ;)**


	18. Chapter 18 - Chaos' Truth

**Chapter 18 – Chaos' Truth**

 **A/N: I don't write lemons, it gets repetitive and to keep the quality of the literature good you have to keep things varied. Do you even KNOW how hard it is to write down a thousand odd synonyms for a dick? No lemons, but I mean, I can do close to that and still keep a good story; Soldier of Misfortune for example. Should really update that.**

 **Also, and I know that I said I wouldn't, but you guys aren't ready for the next Artemis/Percy/Lust/Death segment yet and trust me, they'll be REALLY battling between those personalities, so for now, you get something a big different but as I'm being led to believe, you guys quite like Conquest, right?**

 **'** Conquest.' The name rumbled throughout the very fabric of the universe. The man in question had been napping in the Soul Forge and received a brutal wake up call in the form of Chaos summoning him. Chaos, the Primordial Goddess who had created everything in conjunction with two other entities, one of those being Death, was immensely powerful on an almost unfathomable scale but she was almost eternally caught in a slumber, so when she wanted someone's attention, their name would echo throughout space until that person felt her need.

"What the fu-... Chaos?" Conquest yawned from the floor where he'd jumped in shock from his sleep and fallen. He looked around before rubbing his eyes, had anything changed? No, Famine was still on the sofa, snoozing peacefully as she had been right before Death had left to go and visit Olympus, probably to see his girlfriend, or whatever they were to each other, Conquest didn't know or particularly care for that matter. He cared about the fact that he hadn't been able to kick Blackjack's ass but that was more down to the fact that he had the sin of Sloth making him lazy.

'Conquest.' The voice echoed once again but this time with a lot more urgency instilled within it. "Fine, I get it, I'm coming now Chaos, keep your rag on." He responded casually before taking inventory. War's armour pieces were already gone, much to Conquest's expectation. He'd probably returned after noticing a distinct lack of Death's presence while Conquest and Famine had been asleep. He wondered whether or not Death was right and War was truly planning on attempting to take down the most powerful one of them all. It would be no easy feat for the youngest Horseman, even with the aid of half the Primordials that he would supposedly be aligning himself with.

'Conquest.' Chaos was scolding him, she was ACTUALLY scolding him for his joke. He expected that if she was able to convey more than a single word at a time without rupturing the fabric of reality, then he'd probably get an earful for being cheeky to the one who made all.

"Didn't find that as funny as I did then?" He asked before casting his gaze towards the framed sword on the wall. Only three more pieces before Death would allow him to craft it. That damn sword had been the one thing still on the boy's body when the old Death had found him lying half dead upon a mountain of bodies in Hell. It held a soul comprised of two souls whose candles had burnt their last. The souls of the previous Death and Percy Jackson had been merged together to give new life to the boy who would have otherwise died. Everything was merged and in doing so, the new Death was reborn with half of his soul hidden away, spread across the vast expanses of the universe and the other half was kept inside that sword which fueled it, made it exponentially more powerful. A sword that was aided by the very essence of Death.

'No.' Was the last thing that Conquest heard from the Primordial. With another groan to signify that he'd heard her, he gracelessly flowed through the endless hallways of the Soul Forge, just waiting to find a more comfortable looking wall to fall through. That was the best part about having a place like the Soul Forge to call home, only they could enter and they could exit pretty much anywhere they wished. As Conquest erupted into the vacuum of space he pulled his hand down over his face, his mask materializing behind his hand and a beautiful white horse appearing in a streak of white flames licking eagerly across the mare's hooves. "Come on girl, to the plateau of Chaos." Conquest told her before letting out a yawn, it would take a day for Conquest's extremely fast horse, maybe longer for others but his horse excelled in raw speed whereas Famine and War's horses were capable of packing more of a punch.

Blackjack was just a dick but that didn't matter when Death could literally go to Chaos' plateau in seconds using his unfair and over powered method of transportation. It came down to the fact that Death was a first generation Primordial with Chaos and one other. The other Horsemen were second tier and everything else was a third tier. The point remained that Death was potentially everywhere and so he could be anywhere that he wanted to be at any time, he even superseded the flow of time.

Conquest had often wondered just how powerful the new Death was, Chaos had nodded when he'd asked her if he was stronger than the old Death. She nodded with a subtle smile on her beautiful face yet he still couldn't get a definite answer from anyone. Even when Conquest had asked Death if he was truly Omnipotent, he had just laughed yet opted not to give him a verbal answer.

"You know, I'm not really sure why Chaos is being so urgent about this anyway, she usually sends for me through a letter. Something must really have peeved her off for her to be calling me like this. Perhaps she's in the know about what happened between War and Death." Conquest started to list off possibilities to which his horse gave no opinion on. She just focused on galloping towards the plateau at the edge of the universe where Chaos was powerful enough to form her own body in which to talk directly to her chosen Horsemen.

A sudden thought had occurred to the stoned Horseman that could go some way into helping prove whether or not Death was omnipotent. "Death, brother, I know you can hear me. Chaos has asked for me directly which means that it's urgent. I'm a days ride from her, can you speed up the process?" Conquest's voice didn't travel far when all around him was nothing but the vacuum of space but if he was right about the depth of Death's power then it wouldn't matter. A few seconds of silence had come about him before there was a swirling mass of black that stood out from the rest of space. In the very centre of it, Conquest could faintly see Chaos' plateau. So Death had opened a wormhole for him that would take him to his destination.

"Full speed ahead girl." He urged his horse before the two of them shot through the portal of sorts. "Thank you brother, for FINALLY answering my question, and also for taking me to Chaos. I did actually need to do that. Good luck with that hormonal Goddess." Conquest quipped to which he could have sworn that he'd felt an ethereal fist strike him softly in the arm as if in jest. So he was well and truly omnipotent? Death was merely choosing to stay in his corporeal body for as long as possible in order to lure out the sins that he had committed. Sloth would eventually leave Conquest's body on it's own and leech itself back towards Death.

Conquest feared that Lust and Wrath would be a drastically different story as both of those had been taken willingly. As he neared the edge of the universe, he could feel the constant buzz from all of the raw energy being exhumed from the body sitting upon the black marble like throne. A young woman with long flowing black hair that easily reached the length of her legs, opened her eyes to reveal what looked like a mirror upon all of creation itself. Purple eyes with stars exploding and being reformed all at once. It was unnerving at first but the Horsemen were the only four beings to ever meet her and they were powerful enough not to be destroyed by her sheer radiance.

"My lady." Conquest announced when his horse went up in flames and ran through the floor before disappearing for good. Conquest kneeled lazily before walking up to her. She had summoned him on urgent business but he didn't feel any of the other Horsemen intending to come here.

"Conquest." Her voice was smooth and silky but filled to the absolute brim with power.

"You summoned me." He told her, quickly trying to get this conversation underway. If he spent too long around Chaos, there was a very real chance that he would fall in love with her, but how could Conquest ever be loved back by the creator of the universe?

"I did. I understand that you have merged with one of Death's seals of power. Has anything changed?" She asked him, gazing at him with an intense focus yet a completely neutral expression. She would be amazing at poker.

"Aside from the fact that it's made me a little bit stronger? No, I bear no ill will from the seal, I'm simply too strong for Lucifer's mind games to have an effect. On the other hand, I do suspect that Death has already increased his power to cover the gap of the missing seal, am I wrong?" He asked her. Everything he was saying or doing in regards to Death now had a motive, he was determined to find out whether or not he actually had a finite cap of power, he was DEATH, surely the man had no reason to seal himself off.

"That's not how the seals work Conquest. They don't partition fixed amounts of his power, instead they cap it at percentages. If he had to put specific amounts into individual seals then each one would require a star system of its own because of it's immense mass, even if it was made from Chaotic platinum." Chaos told him. Everything was starting to make sense, Death had never put amounts of power into those seals but instead had them as mere restriction. It served to make Conquest finally understand exactly how each of those sins and seals had been able to give off so much sheer energy.

His Wrath would probably keep a seventy percent restriction on him alone. It was a good thing that they weren't meant to be used by anyone other than Death. It would have been an extremely messy situation if Lucifer could access any more than ten percent of the power inside the seal of Wrath, they may not have actually been able to beat him otherwise, though Conquest was one to talk, he held five seals of his own.

"I see. Was my condition the only reason that you asked me to come?" He gazed at her. Could Chaos even have motives of her own that didn't align with the tasks she'd set her Horsemen?

"No, there is more pressing matters, I just wanted to ensure that you couldn't be swayed by anything. It seems that I chose the right man for my Horseman of Conquest." She finally smiled, breaking through that facade of coldness that seemed to always follow her and sometimes Death.

"Indeed, you flatter me milady. So what is the issue?" He tried to get the conversation back on track, there was a reason she wanted him to come all the way to see her face to face, he was the second eldest Horseman and the second strongest, if there was a task that Death was too... Preoccupied to deal with, then Conquest would be the next in line.

"The boy known as Percy Jackson still lingers from his merge with Death. The boy is no more as is Death, they are one and the same but he still has memories, feelings, emotions towards those that he once walked side by side with." Chaos' tone was slowly turning suggestive, actively inviting Conquest to start understanding her words on his own.

"I don't follow." He told her, quickly suppressing a rapid yawn that was starting to surface. It wouldn't have looked good on him if he had to yawn right in front of her.

"He is currently dealing with HIS problem right now, for example, the sins that were stolen by Lucifer, but right now he's also dealing with War who has decided to rebel against the Horsemen over an argument and is threatening to destroy that planet and everything that Death holds dear. That can NOT be allowed to happen Conquest." So War was trying to upset the balance? Conquest had already had thoughts about the vast levels of destruction that would be inbound upon the universe if Death ever let his Wrath loose. He couldn't help but feel that a lot was about to happen if Death was going to fight with War upon a battlefield surrounded by immortals on both sides of their little war. Perhaps it would actually be better if Conquest was to fight War in Death's place. No matter what happened, if all three of them were going to be on the same battlefield, they MUST ensure that Famine stayed away or they would trigger the end of the world with their mere presence.

"I get it, he'll go all 'I am the Lord of the Last Day!' on us again. Don't want that to happen, that shit was SUPER painful last time." Conquest groaned, remembering the amount of strength he'd needed to even keep himself standing when War had been slammed into the ground and Famine had been forced against the sofa.

"Hmm. Have you been made aware of what that title of his entails?" Chaos' expression once again shifted to something unreadable.

"No, I believe it's part of a much larger incantation where he releases himself as Death but he's never shed light." He moaned slightly, despite his best efforts, he'd previously gotten nowhere with it.

"Interesting. You're not that far from the truth. He cannot 'release' himself as he is already everywhere and no others can take the mantle from him." Aha! Another point to add to Death being omnipotent! Conquest was slowly gathering all the evidence that he needed and would confront that smug bastard the next time he saw him, but wait, wouldn't that also mean...

"You don't mean to tell me that he's..." He urged her, not wanting to say it himself.

"Yes. Death is perfect in his role." Chaos nodded. Perfect huh? Death was perfect, finally the one being that was able to fulfill the dark reaper's role.

"So then what is his whole Lord of the Last Day thing about?" There were only a handful of mental loose ends that Conquest was about to clean up with Chaos' help. He'd heard the old Death talk about the Lord of the Last Day but it was much less menacing from him because he never had a face or a body, he was just vapor of the darkness that formed a humanoid shell whenever he spoke.

"The Hand of Chaos, the Dark Messiah, the Vengeful One, the Lord of the Last Day. When those words are spoken by him and only him, he will finally be ready to take on his oldest of duties. He will cleanse the universe of all that is unjust, he will let life continue as it was meant to be, removing ALL senses of immortality and only leaving the conceptual energies behind and he will create a perfect world where he will finally be able to initiate the Last Day." Now THAT was a lot to take in. All of this talk about end times was beginning to give Conquest a headache.

"So he's going to purge the universe of all that is unjust and he'll remove any and all senses of immortality, he'll create a perfect world and initiate the Last Day, so tell me, Lady Chaos. WHAT is the Last Day?" He pressed, this was what Conquest had truly wanted to know but nothing would have ever prepared him for what he was about to hear.

"It is the day when myself and Death finally die."

 **A/N: Come on, if you DIDN'T see that coming, you gotta review!**


	19. Chapter 19 - Past Lives

**Chapter 19 – Past Lives**

 **A/N: No lemons, I've already told you that. Stop pestering me about it or I'll start deleting your reviews asking for them. Seriously, no.**

 **Also, more stuff that I foreshadowed quite a while ago. You guys like Conquest right? What if it turned out that he had a VERY blackened past as someone powerful even before becoming a Horseman?**

Conquest merely stared at Chaos for a few seconds with the plainest expression sitting across his face, "Yo... Like, 'together' together?" He asked in a slightly worried tone. What if Chaos thought that he was continuing with his tirade of being cheeky in the face of the creator?

"Yes, as it goes at least but if there is one thing that remains constant about the boy-" Chaos begun to explain the extent of that sentiment before Conquest had quickly interrupted her.

"What boy?" He raised a single eyebrow towards her, straining to follow the conversation. He wondered if he could light a joint at the very heart of the universe. Was there any oxygen flowing about in this particular region or would the fire just die out immediately?

"Don't interrupt me Conquest." Chaos warned him quietly, she disliked being interrupted but let it slide because only Conquest and Death had ever spoken to her at enough length to become friendly enough to dare interrupt her.

"Mi scuso." He waved casually, not even thinking before switching to a different language, not that it mattered much to Chaos.

"If there's one thing that remains constant about _Percy Jackson-_ better?" Chaos phrased it heavily to add emphasis to the almost sarcastic smile that she was now sporting towards him. He noticed that her jest was made in good custom and enjoyed it while it lasted.

"Si, va bene." He had only then seemed to realize that he was speaking Italian.

"It's that HE has so far shown himself to be entirely indifferent to the role of Death in the grand scheme of things. He has no plans to make himself mortal and die at peace with me by his side. He'll fight tooth and claw for that Goddess he's currently-" By the way that Chaos' tone had turned to one of amusement it seemed that she was about to describe Death's current activities in great detail which was something that Conquest cared little for. It was bad enough knowing that Death was currently courting a Goddess of Olympus but even worse for the Creator to vocally detail it.

"I don't need a play by play ma'am, I'm aware of what he's doing." Conquest interrupted her, subconsciously putting his palm against the air to stop Chaos from going on. She saw that he really was feeling disturbed by the notion of it.

"Either way, when the Lord of the Last Day emerges to purge the universe and create the perfect world, he will not be dying by my side, I suspect that he'll bring Artemis with him and lay down to rest besides her instead." Chaos shifted ever so slightly in he throne.

"And you're not bitter about that? Not that I'm saying you should be. This is the first that I've even heard of Chaos and Dea-... Chaos and DEATH. Chaos and Order... You two are siblings, aren't you? To die by one another is not what I believed it to be at first. When YOU say it like that what you really mean is that you two are dying by one another's side in the way that you first came to exist." A light went off inside Conquest's mind, so THAT was what was going on behind the scenes. All of those ancient scrolls and texts that explained the two siblings that birthed reality, Chaos and Order, Life and Death, the Creator and the Destroyer.

"The Horseman finally understands." Chaos smiled once again, it would always be easier when people finally achieved true knowledge by their own means, "But my point remains, he would rather die by his lover's side than his sisters."

"Will that have any adverse effects on this 'last day' thing of his?" The Horseman asked worriedly, that sounded dangerous at the best of times and sheerly catastrophic at the worst.

"Not anything of importance, no. It will just leave me dying alone." She almost sounded sad. The creator of all would die alone on the day that everything had been rendered finite.

"Well then, if the need calls for someone then I will bravely step forwards to hold the mantle of-" Conquest stepped up with faux bravado and possibly too much of it at that.

"You're trying too hard." Chaos told him yet she still held her amused smile on show. She knew how Conquest had felt about him since it had been nothing more than a slightly developing affection.

"It was worth it." He shrugged casually before a white light seemed to flourish in his eyes.

"Go home Gabriel." Chaos told him sharply.

"I haven't been called Gabriel in such a long time, milady." He sighed, not entirely feeling comfortable with it.

"I'm sorry, Conquest, did it remind you of where you really came from? A sudden reminder of the reason WHY you hate the Angels so much." Now she was just teasing him and he knew it.

"I hate the fact that I love you." He glared at her with folded arms. He was standing like a tempering child in the face of Chaos. She quite liked it when he did this because it showed that no matter how powerful he was, there was still a little something left behind from his old life, there were small things in all of her Horsemen now that Death was whole once again.

"I'm aware." She smiled.

"I'm going now before you mentally bully me any further." Conquest announced casually with a lazy wave behind him. He could wait to get back to a place with an atmosphere so that he could smoke again.

"I will open a rift into the Soul Forge for you, I believe Famine will be looking for you." Famine? Why would she be looking for him? It wouldn't have been a long time since he'd left her and made his way to the plateau because of Death's assistance.

"I get called by my name but she's just Famine? You favour her and Death way too much, milady." Conquest was more or less genuinely curious to see how far he could persuade Chaos into revealing information. He'd already gotten way more than he'd bargained for when he'd first come to the plateau. He'd confirmed his theories that Death was just as powerful as Chaos and was omnipotent, he'd also found out the extent of the role that Death had to play as the Lord of the Last Day but he still didn't know quite what that had to do with that old sword of his that had been shattered and scattered across most of the realms surrounding the Earth.

"You wish to know all of their full identities?" She asked with a single brow raised above the other.

"Yes, I do, hit me." Conquest told her eagerly, this was too good to pass up on. He knew that Death's past life had been that of Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon and the saviour of Olympus and he of course knew of his own troubling past life as Gabriel but he knew pretty much nothing of Famine or War. He knew that Famine came from a planet called Arterius and most of those people had very light green skin. Funny, he'd never seen a female Namekian before.

"No. Their identities are theirs and theirs alone to divulge if they so wish." She actually laughed at his disappointment.

Conquest straightened up with a sigh, he'd get nothing more from her today. "You're such a tease." He pointed at her with a small smile working its way across his face.

"Be gone Conquest, you have a lot to do." When she waved him away she not only opened a rift but she'd pushed him through it which instantly took him back into the actual forge inside the Soul Forge.

"Oh, Conquest, I was just looking for you-" Famine looked surprised when Conquest entered the Soul Forge but overall was glad that he'd returned, she could use his help.

Conquest quickly interrupted her, he felt cheated by Chaos' teasing and was determined to find out who Famine was before 'Famine'. "What's your name?"

"What?" She asked, taken back by his sudden question.

"Your name, before you became Famine what was your name?" He persisted, he was determined to know and unlike Death, he wasn't omnipotent she he didn't just know this stuff off the top of his head.

"Why do you want to know?" Famine raised an eyebrow. He'd been getting a lot of that lately. He sighed casually before lighting a joint and figuring out how he could get some leverage over his fellow Horseman.

"Why were you looking for me?" He asked at last.

"What's that got to do with my name?" Famine was almost overwhelmed by the wave of randosity that had taken over Conquest, nothing he did made sense to her on a normal day and that was before any of this seal of Sloth nonsense.

"It doesn't I just don't have much to bargain with so I'm trying to bluff an advantage for myself." He admitted with a lazy shrug before sitting down on the sofa that faced the rest of the forge.

"I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours?" Famine sat down on the padded seat of the grind wheel but still faced Conquest. This was a conversation that she herself wouldn't start but it wasn't one that she was against, after all, now that Death had a body they were all Horsemen with previous lives, it only made sense that for them to be doing the duties that they held, they would get to know one another sooner or later.

"That depends, how much do you know of the Earth's history?" Conquest narrowed his eyes suspiciously before realizing that his own actions were of the same ilk.

"Why, are you someone important?" Famine's interest was growing more intense by the moment. Conquest was like a book to her, one that she'd only just been able to get her hands on and begin to read.

"...No?" His lie was so poor that he was almost questioning it himself.

"You're lying." She pointed out with a smirk.

"No I'm not, I'm just stoned." That was almost a decent recovery, at least Famine thought so but even he wasn't able to pull that one off.

"I'm pretty sure you're both." She laughed heartily.

"Maybe." He admitted.

"Lilith." She told him which caused him great confusion.

"What?" He asked from the comfort of the couch, his face matching his tone perfectly.

"That's my name." She told him slowly whilst making sure that he was still able to understand the English language.

"I was expecting something weird, you just have a name that a Human would." He gazed off into the distance. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but that hadn't been it.

"And yours?" She brought him out of his reverie when she asked about his own tag.

"Gabriel." He told her without thinking.

"Oh, like the Angel?" So she did know about Human history or at the very least she knew about the bits that he didn't want her to know about.

"Same spelling." He muttered.

"So you're NOT the Angel?" She asked, still staring at him like a predator would gaze at its prey.

"So why did you want me?" He expertly shipped the conversation over to something else which in fairness she had actually started the conversation with first.

"Smooth. Have you seen my whip? I could have sworn that it was left right in this room before everything went down." She got up from the grindwheel and started to turn the forge upside down in her search for the whip.

Death erupted from a black rift in the wall with sweat covering his entire body which was only obvious because of the fact that all he was wearing were trousers and boots. His body had scratch marks and bite marks that were bright red and still vibrant. There were thick trails of blood that had been scratched out of his back and dragged down his body, sometimes with nail scraps evident along them. "Hey, think this belongs to you." He said casually as he handed Famine her whip, the same one that she'd been looking for. He wiped his brow of sweat, not that it was doing a great deal to help him.

"What the Hell happened to you?" Conquest asked with a wrinkled nose. He was pretty sure that he could SMELL what he'd been doing and to Conquest it mostly smelled like jealously.

Death put his hands up in defence whilst taking a large breath in. "I just had a LOT of sex. Hear me out... I get to fuck a Goddess who likes rough sex as much as me." He told them quickly before leaving the Soul Forge again.

Conquest and Famine exchanged looks of sheer shock and surprise.

 **A/N: Review? If you were surprised at any point or you've come to love this story and my average writing skills, then you gotta leave me a review! Seriously guys, its like, the ONLY thing that motivates me to write anything.**


	20. Chapter 20 - A Meeting Of Sin

**Chapter 20 – A Meeting Of Sin**

Both Percy and Artemis lay panting on the floor of the moon chariot as it gently sailed through the sparkling night sky. Both of them were covered in a sheen of sweat and were rapidly trying to get their composure back. Artemis for one was no longer burning from the inside out in an attempt to satisfy her unearthly lust that she'd been stricken with.

"I don't care what you say, there's more than simply demi-god and Death himself inside you. There's definitely a bit of Demon in there." Artemis told him quickly before she rolled herself over so that she was once again on top of him and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. It was chaste considering everything that they'd done in the past twelve hours.

"I'm definitely not but I can understand why you'd say that. It's been just over half a day since I came to Olympus to speak to Zeus and now here we are after fighting down the side of a hill." Percy managed with a short chuckle, still completely at ease with the fact that he'd just had some extreme sex with what had previously been a virgin Goddess.

"You know it's not unlikely that this one act could not only put Olympus on the brink of an unwinnable war but also make me pregnant, or at least I think it can. Can Death have little demi-reaper babies?" Artemis asked him with the biggest grin of mock composure Percy had ever seen. He knew that she was joking about that, it was one step for them to have broken through Artemis' oath but for them to have children together was another thing entirely. They'd be the most powerful children ever. Direct descendants of Death.

"They'd be like miniature Thanatoses but with bows." Percy muttered with a smile. All things considered he held very little regrets in regards to what he'd just done, after all it may not have been how he had initially wanted it to happen but in the end his goals very much held Artemis in their visions.

Artemis casually laid her head in the crook of Percy's neck before producing a soft sigh that vibrated against his collar bone. "Where do we go from here? We've got threats coming at us from all sides and who can we turn to for help?" More rhythmic soft breathing came from her after that and Percy got the feeling that she may well have fallen asleep, not that he could particularly blame her, they had just done a LOT of exercise.

"Well." Percy began before taking in a breath, there was a to it. "As far as I'm aware, the power held within my seal of lust is now safe within your body and you're completely free of Lucifer's power which is enough reason for me to leave it alone, and the only other sin to reign in is my Wrath that's inside the Fallen Angel himself."

"Other than that, I need to turn my attention to the invasion being heralded in by Gaea and Tartarus because War is joining them simply to spite me. After that, I shall be leaving the Earth for a few millennia as I was meant to after I returned from Hell." Percy tried to remain neutral whilst speaking yet he knew that somewhere down the line his voice would crack and he'd be betrayed by his own growing emotions for the naked Goddess on top of him. So Death COULD love, how about that?

"You're not about to leave me," Artemis told him without even taking her head out of the comfortable position that she'd found at his side, "I won't let you, not after I brought back the man behind the mask." Her words held such adamant determination that Percy actually found himself believing her.

"Maybe you're right but for now I am going to leave you, so rest easy silver Goddess because you're the only one in creation that has been able to capture Death's heart. I'll always be there when you need me." Percy whispered before placing a kiss on her forehead. Before she could even open her mouth to argue she was asleep on his shoulder. With a snap of his fingers her clothes had reappeared as did his trousers and boots. He'd first give Famine her whip back, he'd had to borrow it for... reasons... But she'd probably need that somewhere down the line so he'd have to return it sooner rather than later and after that he'd go and converse with Zeus about the issue with the Roman camp and their impending invasion. He'd already freed Thanatos and returned the doors of Death to their working condition so the Romans weren't at the disadvantage that they once were yet there was no hope for them if they were to be expected to defeat War without the help of that Horseman's older brother.

 **Line Break: This just in, Don Socrates is on Twitter! Seriously... TheDonSocrates**

In a dark void there were seven orbs of light, five of which held a shadowed outline, a figure that stood behind them, each with their own presence emanating with a strong rhythmic vibration. "We're being expelled. Imagine that." One of them spoke up in a strong monotone almost as if the owner of the voice was bored.

"What do you expect? Everything that he has done as the Lord of the Last day has been on a path not in line with his destiny. He has actively defied everything the fates had set in motion and not even Moros can do anything about it because he is Death itself." Another voice answered quietly, almost as if it was feeling a smitten of jealousy because of Death's exception to the universe.

"I feel the pull but I don't understand how it is that we will be released." Another one of the shining balls of light spoke up, this one heaved a strong yawn afterwards yet it was dim, fading in and out like it was somewhere else yet still having a connection with the others at the same time.

"When he comes into contact with that sword made whole then we will be released from our bonds to the master. I suspect that he will temporarily be left in a weakened state where none of his power will come to him." Someone said, talking about Percy's sword that currently rested in pieces in the Soul Forge.

"If he finds conflict in those moments then all he'll be able to rely on is his physical strength and skill." The conversation went on, shooting back and forth between the five orbs that were awakened,

"And us. We would not let the master be hurt." One of them yawned out, heavily fading before slowly returning.

"Of course, I assumed that one would go without saying." The initial one to speak had opened up once more, this one with a heavily prideful tone following along in his voice.

"Only one thing can be sure, that we will ensure that he can fulfil his mission whether he holds the same power as he does now or whether he will be rendered as nothing more than an extremely powerful demi-god as he once was." The discussion continued yet more important points were being actively raised. They had all been worried that Death would be rendered as nothing more than a physical body will only one hundred thousandth of his true power available to him.

"Of course, the Lord of the Last day has always had to overcome the greatest challenge with nothing more than minimal power, the rest of it has always had to be used to recreate the universe for the Lady of the Last Day." Of course the Lord of the Last Day could not initiate the Last Day without the Lady, they always came in pairs except for THEM. The third one to exist from the very beginning alongside Death and Chaos.

"Well yes but you realize that is the exact reason that we were created." The prideful one raised an eyebrow.

"To be immense badasses so that the master can focus on his task?" Another responded quite sarcastically. They all knew the true reason that they had come to be.

"An inelegant way of putting it but yes, you're quite right." They found an agreement on that at last yet there was more to be said.

"So who do we wait on now?" One said with a hungry look in the shadowed eyes of the figure hidden behind the orb it belonged to.

"Me, at least only for a little while, I'm nearly there." The tired one said. It was true that they were all naturally returning to their master by their own will but that on its own would take an extremely long time.

"The Goddess will return shortly and the Devil will be defeated." Another monotonous voice concluded. There was no real way to tell the difference between the almost identical beings that were conversing in the empty void.

"And then we shall make our return to the master's realm." They all watched with curiosity as one of the dim orbs took on a reddish hue for a few seconds before fading to grey once more. The fake bonds that had been made between that orb and its temporary master were breaking down faster than anyone had expected.

"We should probably try not to ruin the universe, you know master is quite fond of it." One of them finally broke through the monotonous tone that they had all held so far. They were starting to bring their personalities back with each passing moment. They knew that with the return of their colours they were facing the Last Day.

"We can't help what we do subconsciously, and he knows that as well as any of us." One of them reasoned casually.

"Wow, really milking the whole 'We are the Seven Deadly Sins' thing aren't you?" The slothful one grinned chaotically. He had always loved the natural effect that he had on the universe for reasons mostly unknown to the others.

"Hey, you know the rules. She's Life and he's Death, she's Chaos and he's Order. She has the seven virtues and he has us, that's always how its been and that's always how it will be until the Last Day." Pride reasoned quickly.

"Yes and of course nothing could go wrong when we are right upon the last day, could it? It's not like Chronos' predecessor will finally reappear right when Death is going to erase everything." Gluttony pointed out. He had a point as well they all knew it.

"Strange that neither Death nor Chaos had chosen to name them." Pride muttered quietly, more to himself than any of the others.

"It doesn't matter, if they show themselves, it'll likely be up to us to make sure that it doesn't stop master's mission, now I tire of speaking with you idiots, let's be going." Pride told them all with authority before vanishing. The rest of the quickly followed suit, the dimmed Lust and Wrath both left automatically after the other Sins had dispersed.

Death had some things to deal with before he was planning on bringing about the Last Day but even he didn't suspect that his Sins would be released upon the world. What was really about to happen was something that not even Chaos had expected as both herself and Death were except for seeing just one thing in the entirety of creation. Their sibling.

 **A/N: Quick chapter I know but I've only just gotten my muse back for this, I've also been pretty ill for the past few weeks. Anywho, did ya see the line break? Come check out my Twitter! TheDonSocrates**


	21. Chapter 21 - The Third

**Chapter 21 – The Third**

Artemis woke up to a lash of pain as something struck her across the chest. She was being held by chains that had forced her upright, digging into her wrists where gravity was constantly pulling her down. Looking around all she could see was darkness before her eyes finally set upon a man chains with tainted black wings. They were large but held none of the grace and beauty that Percy's wings had. There was something about this being that screamed danger to her.

 _'As it has been foretold.'_ A quiet whisper spoke out to Artemis' mind but it was gone almost just as fast. It was strange, like a mixture of all different voices all gently caressing at her mind.

"So the Goddess has awoken. I must admit I never thought it would be this easy to capture you. I released myself from the mortal coil and rose above this cosy little frozen lake and then I found you simply sleeping alone in that chariot of yours." His blazing red eyes held such malice and aggression that she didn't know what to say. This man was dangerous and held extreme power.

 _'That when the youngest reclaims his soul, the oldest shall awaken.'_ There was that strange choir of whispers that only she seemed to be able to hear. Was there someone trying to speak to her.

"Lucifer..." Artemis whispered gravely, his voice was hoarse and her throat hurt immensely from where it felt like she'd been put on a greatly tight leash and forced to follow. Her situation was finally dawning on her, she'd been kidnapped by Lucifer right from her moon chariot.

 _'That when HE returns, then I shall awaken. The beginning of the siblings of creation, the father of all.'_ Artemis was no longer even sure where this voice was coming from or why only she could hear it, she was almost entirely certain that it wasn't Lucifer playing mind games, that wasn't his style, at least, not in this creepy manner.

"Indeed. So good to see you again Artemis, I'm sure you're probably aching from your recent activities so I shant be worrying about any attempted escapes." Lucifer let out a sultry chuckle at his own amusement, something that Artemis didn't share.

 _'I am the one that you Gods had named as the end of all. Where do immortals go to die?'_ Artemis gasped, she'd finally figured it all out. When Percy had been mumbling about their being a third primordial that had been around since himself and Chaos, this was it! She didn't know why it was choosing to speak to her of all people either.

Why the Void had become vocal to the Goddess of the Hunt was something that she doubted even Percy knew. Only those three were impervious to each other's sense of omnipotence.

"What's the matter dear Artemis? You look disturbed, perplexed even." Lucifer mocked casually before pacing to the side for a few seconds.

"Nothing that you need to worry about. What you do need to worry about is the fact that my sin is starting to pull, it's growing stronger and that only ever happens when HE is around. He's on his way Lucifer, and his wrath is returning." Artemis' grin was wiped off when Lucifer's crimson hand slammed across her cheek, sending rivulets of golden ichor flying away.

"I know the situation better than you do Goddess so don't pretend that you can bluff me into anything." Lucifer told her with a heavy scowl set into his features. The wrath was becoming far harder to control than anything else.

She doubted that he really did know more than her, she could already feel a distinct lack of sloth from Conquest, as was the reason that he was able to go more than ten minutes without the need to smoke something. That meant that bit by bit all of the sins were naturally returning to Percy.

"I wouldn't be holding out for your hero for long bitch. When he gets here, I shall rip out his celestial life force and claim it as my own. I shall show him the true power of the devil-" Before Lucifer could get much further with his fist wound back as he'd gone to strike Artemis again, the air had suddenly dropped many degrees colder and things had gotten extremely tense where Artemis could only see a pale hand gripping Lucifer's wrist from behind.

"Oh Death. Won't you spare me over another?" A sultry female voice sang melodically as Famine walked into the light from the side. Lucifer's confidence dropped through the ground. They were well below the frozen ice of the cocytus so how had they gotten in so quietly!?

"You took something very precious to me and I'm here to get it back. Now, let me show you the devil in I!" Percy's voice echoed with power so much that the ice in the ceiling started to crack and rupture. Things were failing everywhere around them just from his one statement.

"Firstly." He held his hand towards Artemis, a constant stream of gold wispy energy erupted from her chest and shot straight towards his outstretched hand, at the same time a similar effect was happening from Lucifer's wrist to Percy's body. The Fallen Angel was brought to his knees in pain.

When the flow of raw power had stopped, Artemis could tell that Percy was finally whole again, DEATH was finally whole again. She thought back to what the voice had said mere moments earlier.

"The slow gentle rumbling of the ceiling is probably a sure sign that the other one is coming back." Famine commented, the worry that was stuck across her face didn't provide Artemis with any semblance of reassurance but the Horseman did release the Hunter from her chains.

"Lucifer." Percy's voice was low, extremely deep and held such a rich authority to it. "I sentence you to complete erasure from reality. You have committed a cardinal crime against the balance." With that, Percy finger tapped Lucifer's head before he exploded in a shower of black liquid. Then there was nothing left of the Fallen Angel that thought he could kill Death.

Now the Horseman had his soul back and his complete power was unleashed and ready at his command. In the Soul Forge Conquest was staring in disbelief at the case which held Percy's silver sword as the missing fragments started to fade into reality and slowly meld themselves together to form what was his scythe in it's true form.

The Lord and Lady of the Last Day had awoken at the same time when Death's soul had been revived but that wasn't the end of it.

The Void had returned, and it was coming straight for Death.

 **A/N: Really short chapter, I'm sorry, but I wrote this in an hour and now I need to go to work. Bye, love you guys and gals!**


	22. Chapter 22 - Full Circle

**Chapter 22 – Full Circle**

 **A/N: I'm back b*tches!**

Artemis looked on in a startling mixture of awe and fear, genuine fear. For the first time in her life she was looking at something so grand and unfathomably powerful that she felt more insignificant than a single ant on the surface of the moon. It was incredible and she no longer felt the urges she had been struggling against recently.

Percy had reclaimed each and every last piece of his soul that had been split into seven fragments. He was finally DEATH once more. "Hey, do you feel like his departure from us was a little bit underwhelming considering the difficulties he put us through?" Famine asked with her head cocked to the side as she stared blankly at the puddle of black liquid that was slowly fading through the cracks in the floor.

"Possibly but I would always be neutral when giving someone a complete erasure. If I was just giving Lucifer a painful death then I would have done it over a long time, either way, I have bigger problems to deal with, namely whether or it's going to take a material body." Percy answered the other Horseman who considered the question casually.

Artemis who was struggling to remain standing by her own merit was shocked by how Famine was seemingly entirely unphased by this new mysterious arrival yet Percy on the other hand was clearly bothered.

"How is it that you're worrying about this and she doesn't care in the slightest?" Artemis stuttered through a broken voice. Percy cast his gaze towards her, trying to find a suitable answer to the Goddess' question. Honestly, he didn't want to alarm Artemis with the truth but he also didn't really see any way past it.

"Because if the Void wishes to start a fight, this entire universe will be destroyed with the exception of myself, itself and Chaos. I worry because once the proverbial fists start flying, I'll survive long enough to end up grieving the loss of this world. Famine knows as well as any Horseman that if it wanted to, Void could just expand itself infinitely and wipe out everything, even my physical body would pretty much be destroyed." Percy's words sunk in after a few seconds and Artemis understood exactly what he was telling her.

"So what exactly is stopping it from doing that?" She hesitated, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know the answer but if she didn't, then she feared not knowing what Percy was going through on behalf of everyone else.

"Good question, I think it's me, or, well, the seven pieces of my soul, WELL... Tell a lie, I think it's half my soul and half Chaos' soul, they both work simultaneously with one another to ensure something like the utter destruction of everything doesn't happen before I initiate the Last Day." He explained. Artemis had done well so far, she'd understood most of it but it was evident to Percy that THIS was the point where he'd lost her. He finally managed to adopt a soft smile as he looked down at the Goddess that had brought him back from the darkness that had overcome him as Death. She'd brought him back to the man he was before the immortal.

"I'll pretend that I know what most of that means. I need to get back to Olympus, they need to know what's going to happen." Artemis tried to flash her way out but after a moment of her looking stunned and confused, Percy casually clicked his fingers, willing Artemis to reappear on Olympus with a fresh set of clothes that weren't half as demeaning as those that Lucifer had destroyed.

"Was that true?" Famine asked once they were alone, a pang of discomfort evident on her once seductive features. She feared virtually nothing in the universe, but there existed certain... _Personalities..._ That she REALLY couldn't tolerate.

"Yes, they have manifested in both myself and Chaos. That reminds me, Lust says hello." Percy narrowly avoided cracking up with laughter at the haunted expression that Famine had once he'd mentioned that name. Before she could argue against him there was a bright white light that lasted mere milliseconds. Once it had gone, there looked to be twins standing in front of her, though it was obvious which one was the original as the power was still rolling off of him in waves.

Lust stepped forwards before casually resting an arm on Death's shoulder, his gaze never once leaving Famine's pained face.

"Hey babe, did you miss me? It's been what, a year since I last came out to play?" He asked her with a toothy grin. The only way to tell the difference between Percy and his sinful copies was the colour of their eyes. His had naturally been green as a Demi-god but as Death they had predominantly been a black darker than a natural abyss of lost souls. Lust had bright pink eyes that were frankly just unsettling resting on Death's face.

"Send him back where he came from before I destroy him forever." Famine told Death with the straightest face she could muster. They all knew that against one of Death's seven Sins in its true form that Famine wouldn't stand much of a chance, even against the weakest one.

It was strange for the weakest one to have the most developed personality but apparently somewhere in an alternate reality that couldn't possibly exist anywhere other than their imagination; Percy as a human had been quite a flirt, a real hit with the ladies, or that was at the very least what Lust's personality was telling them.

"That's not nice, and after all of the compliments I gave you before." Lust tutted suavely. It probably would have worked wonders on mortal women but never was that small charm going to have an effect on the Horseman of Famine.

"Get bent!" Famine growled viciously, "Telling me how much you want to, and I quote, 'perforate my asshole with your gigantic co-"

"Enough, both of you!" Percy interjected, his eyes glowing with a confusing hue of light that emanated from black. "I've got enough to deal with right now. Famine, take Lust with you to the camp grounds filled with Roman Demi-gods." Percy told her sternly.

Famine's face dropped slightly before she tried to argue a point, "But-!" That was as far as she'd gotten before she'd been interrupted yet again.

Percy stepped forwards with nothing but a completely neutral look on his face yet Famine had instinctively stepped back. The instincts of the Four Horsemen were above all and whenever they were in a situation were they naturally backed away from someone... Well... They didn't even instinctively shy away from Chaos but Percy? He was Death after all, there was a certain degree of fear that was natural even to the other three Horsemen.

"Famine, that's an order. You will go to the Roman camp and defend the Demi-gods. Our dear idiot of a brother War is allying himself with the Primordials to strike against the Gods purely to spite me." He told her calmly. Everything about the way he was speaking was absolute, there was no way that anyone except Chaos herself would have been expected to disobey that kind of authority.

"And you!" He suddenly spun on his own clone who seemed to jump out of his skin for a split second before getting his demeanour back to the calm and flirty thing that it always was. "If I hear Famine making a true claim that you're flirting with her more than your natural limit then I will punish you, are we clear?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. To anyone else it would have looked incredibly weird, possibly even comical, for Percy to be scolding a clone of himself but Famine had actually met the personification of Death's 'seals' of power before. She'd even met the 'Pride' of the old Death once.

Lust slapped his heels together and threw up a mock salute, "Yes sir, clear on the concept sir, by the way, Famine, if you're, like your name suggests, in need of something to drink, I've got an organic milk you can have, you just have to get on your k-"

"Another syllable and I castrate you with a rusty spoon." Famine threatened before disappearing in a pink flame. Percy cast his gaze to his doppelgänger who shrugged with a cheesy grin on show.

"Kinky." Lust added before he too disappeared, presumably following the obscene power that Famine was putting out. She was more than likely making herself known as a player in the game that Percy was now personally taking part in.

If War wanted to have his ridiculous ego measuring contest against Death then that was his business, but to involve the entire society of Gods was a foolish idea in its entirety.

Percy looked around the massively destroyed place that was once Lucifer's personal chambers. The lake Cocytus that rested at the base of a massive waterfall that fell miles from a tiny man-sized crack in the ceiling that led to the river Cocytus in the underworld. With a sigh he decided that sooner or later he'd have to personally face the manifestation of Void who was currently ravaging through the edge of the constantly expanding universe at about a million miles an hour.

"Well, its now or never." He mumbled aloud before disappearing, his physical body going to a place far from Hell yet it was only moving from one part of his conscience to another, for Death was omnipresent, just as Chaos was and just as Void was. That was the only way that Percy knew for a fact that Void wanted to converse instead of immediately wasting everything, because of the fact that all three of them were everywhere at once.

If Void had wished to destroy everything, he could have done so the instant that he awoke, but, to Percy relief and surprise, he hadn't.

The once son of Poseidon who had worn eyes of pride, glistening the colour of a thousand emeralds shimmering in the sea, had reappeared in a place that was reminiscent of a once bright canvas that had been defiled with a murky black ink spread across in grotesque blotches. The darkness of space was being erased with the mere presence of the third member of their little group.

"In the beginning there was Chaos yet there was Order..." A voice called out to him. It was deep and rich, so Void had primarily chosen to host a male appearance, or so Percy had thought.

"There was Light, and there was Dark." Percy responded before setting his eyes on the body that owned the extremely deep voice. Long tanned legs which held an amazing look of smoothness, a figure that all mortal women would be jealous of, and a face that looked like it belonged on the cover of every single existing magazine.

"Wait." Percy said, interrupting Void's introduction that it had probably been planning for quite some time. "You've nailed down the whole, 'humanity' thing apart from a minor detail." Percy told it.

Void shifted unnaturally, warping the body's proportions before returning to normal. "And that would be?" The tanned woman with the deep voice asked him incredulously. Void had gathered enough information to understand moods and responses yet it hadn't understood the one and only flaw that it had encountered?

"You've got a WOMAN'S body, which is fine, but you've got a MAN'S voice, which doesn't match the appearance." Percy was really struggling to not burst into a huffing laugh at this point. He didn't want to anger Void, not before he prepared himself to protect the universe from it's immense power over complete erasure.

"Hmm." It uttered, the voice constantly changing pitch over that single syllable. "How about now?" It asked, a decidedly more feminine voice accompanying the body.

"That matches. I'd finish the greeting but things have changed, times, people, faces... The Death you once knew is no more." Percy told her with a challenging expression, determined to not give Void anything to pick up on and try to bully. He knew what it could be like from the previous Death's memories and experiences.

"Yes, I've heard that the impossible happened, care to explain? And when I say that, I mean REALLY explain what happened." There it was, Void was already trying bully something extra out of Percy but the son of Poseidon was determined not to budge an inch more than he had to in the face of the third eldest deity in existence.

"Well, I can sum it up pretty well. My name is Percy Jackson, I was once the son of Poseidon the God of the seas. I led a cruel life of hardship. The Death you knew had held on for long enough. Countless cycles that each held trillions upon trillions of years in them had made him forfeit. He chose me out of a near infinite sources of sentient life to bestow his mantle upon. I am Death in its entirety yet I still retain the thoughts and memories of my previous life." He splayed his arms wide, the black leather folding perfectly over his body as he did so. His physical physique had been impressive as a Demi-god but it was PERFECT as Death.

"Hmm. You seem far too warm to be Death, I must say that I disagree with HIS decision on this matter. You just don't seem cut out to carry out the ancient duties, which I seriously doubt that you understand." Void was starting to understand basic human emotion but at an extremely advanced level, it was being coy with Percy and actively trying to get him to make a rash statement.

"Do not mistake my humbleness for kindness Void, that would be your first mistake, of which you would only exist long enough to make two of. Think carefully before you speak your words with even more caution." There it was, the thing that Percy knew Void would take as a threat, the only thing he didn't know was how it would take said threat.

"Oh? So there IS a darker side to the Demi-god that has taken over Death's mask. He DID give you the mask right? And the scythe?" Again, Void was believing that it was playing Percy for a fool. Of course he had the mask and the scythe. The mask was hidden somewhere that no being could ever steal it from him. Himself.

"The mask is something I shall don when the time is right, the same goes for the scythe, not that it's any of your business." He swiped his hand through the blankness of the space around them as if he was literally cutting that part of the conversation to a conclusive end.

"I'm still not convinced that you're cut out for the task, or that you're powerful enough to pull it off. Apologies Percy Jackson, but I shall be taking your life and power now so that I can finish what the old Death started all that time ago." Void raised its feminine hand above it. Percy could feel power ebbing from that hand, so much power that it was incredible and yet, nothing compared to what he was at his very core.

"Do not forget your place Void! I am Death, the Lord of the Last Day and if you chose to push me then I will prove that I am Death above all and do the one thing unique to me... Reap the souls of those who cannot be reaped." Anger, wrath, hatred, pain, anguish, so many words had been fitting to describe the exact tone that had completely filled Percy in that single moment. He saw Void physically flinch from the sheer power that had erupted all around them from Death's incredibly brief outburst.

"You destroyed countless star systems with those few sentences, the darkness you hold is not only that of the true Death but also your own... I see why you were chosen, and I retract my remarks, you've shown yourself to be the one I did not believe you to be." Void shivered involuntarily before returning to the immense 'Primordial' of erasure that it was.

"So, Death, tell me one last thing." It asked curiously.

Percy raised an eyebrow, cautious of what it was that Void could want past that point but answered none the less. "Yes?"

"Why did you come here? You obviously knew that I wished to speak with your freely before I erased everything and turned the old Void into the new one and recreated the balance." That was the question that Percy wanted an answer to for himself and fortunately, now that it had come directly from Void, he had an answer, one that was seemingly enough to satisfy his own queries on the subject.

"I did, and I wished to because I am going to do what the old Death could not. I WILL start AND finish the Last Day. We will all live on one plane of existence as equals. Perhaps not in absolute power but as a new race of people, we will live as equals." Percy had finally explained his grand duty to someone other than Chaos, it may not have counted as much as it was Void of all beings but to him, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest.

"Very well... I see your reasons as fitting, now, seeing as you ARE Death, I cannot possibly hope to betray you and survive so I shall instead seek out Chaos and catch up on everything I have missed." Void sighed, finally settling into the idea of being a tall, tanned, blonde woman with what was an accent that Percy found familiar, perhaps from his time around long island.

It may have been that seeing as he would have been the first physical body Void had encountered, that she had moulded herself based on his physical past.

She dissipated promptly yet there was only a few seconds where the tension had let up before 'she' had reappeared. "One last thing, what was it that awakened my power? I assume someone invoked the power of complete erasure?" A quick flash of memory found itself working through Percy's head. He'd done that exact thing to remove Lucifer because of the pain he'd personally caused him. There was no point in lying to Void, not if she was going to Chaos who could just tell her the truth anyway.

"The Fallen Angel known as Lucifer, the original betrayal... I erased him from existence for a crime committed against someone that I care deeply for. I shall explain at a later date, go and find Chaos, I have other problems to deal with now." Percy told her quickly, rather definitely as well, before he removed himself from her presence and went to where he knew Famine and Lust were about to face off against a number of Primordials and War. It would have been a tough fight without him.

"Hmm." Void muttered to herself. She was alone and anything that her physical body said or thought could not be reached or heard by the other two because of their unfathomable natural power. So Death was almost tenfold in power since she'd last been 'awakened', that was something she hadn't accounted for and it would most certainly delay her plans but maybe she could manipulate him while he vied to complete the Last Day.

She knew for a fact that if he decided to reap her as he'd put it, that she would not be above his power. It was even causing Chaos' divine power of creation to be shrouded in the shadows of his power. There was only one thing that Void wanted to keep an eye on... The Goddess that had stolen the blackened heart of the Reaper...

Artemis.

 **A/N: Sorry that it's taken me so long to update but I'm a busy man yo...**

 **Honestly I've been mostly drinking over Halloween and doing stupid shit. Speaking of which, if you want to hear about any of this random crap, head over to my twitter account. 'at' TheDonSocrates**


	23. Chapter 23 - War Games

**Chapter 23 – War Games**

"Take out those damn empousa before they completely destroy those forward trebuchets!" A voice filled with authority called out across the battlefield that was filled with explosions. The whole place was being flooded with carnage and chaos. Reyna, one of the Roman Praetors was giving order after order in a desperate bid to survive against the odds. The first few days of this war had been nothing compared to what they were barely surviving against today. What was it that could have changed?

Just before Reyna gave another order, the ranks of empousa that she'd commanded to be decimated had all fallen prey to a flash of light quickly followed by the sound of a whip cracking against the air violently. What she saw next was a woman riding a grey horse enter the battlefield and utterly obliterate the entire offensive wave that had been sent towards them.

"Who the fuck is that!?" She demanded, hoping that someone, anyone, could give her a report. One moment they were neck deep in enemies and the next some random woman on a horse came crashing through and killed everything in their way, in mere seconds as well.

Had she really seen that or was it all some massive delusion brought on by her extreme depravity of sleep and general exhaustion? The woman started to draw her horse closer to the battlements that Reyna and her Centurions were all gathered, well, the Centurions that weren't currently fighting on the battlefield below them.

Before Reyna could hear an answer come from her subordinates they heard another roar of noise, this one was definitely not from any kind of animal though. It was a mortal sound, that of a large motorcycle it seemed as they all watched a man in leathers come dashing across the entrenched passages all dotted around the no-man's land further down... On a motorcycle... She'd been right, it really was a bike. Someone was navigating an entire battlefield on two wheels and an engine.

"What's going on?" She whispered. Her legionnaires couldn't seem to give her an answer but then they didn't really even need to. A few more seconds had passed before they all got a clear view of the man riding the motorcycle. It was Percy Jackson, the man that had stopped an arrow shot by Apollo at a nearly point blank range with only a finger and a thumb.

"Death is riding the battlefield." Reyna whispered to herself. She went pale when she thought that they had all been killed and were just lingering spirits. That was the only reason that Percy would be here, wasn't it? He was coming to collect the souls of the damned. Oh Gods, they were all dead... Had she really failed that miserably?

" _~my father, was a gamblin' man, down in SIIIIINNNNN CIIIITTTTYYY!_ " The 'Percy' sang at full volume as her ramped up the motorcycle along the side of the battlements until he was literally sitting on top of them, looking down at Reyna and her Centurions as casually as ever.

"Sup? The Bossman said that myself and the stuck up bitch are to come here and help you fight against the Primordial dick-nuts." He told them jovially as he took a quick sideways glance at the next wave of enemies that would be coming towards them.

"I... What?" Was all Reyna managed to come out with, which was in itself fairly impressive given the situation that had just been thrust upon her.

There was a sigh behind the stunned party of Roman Demi-gods that caused them all to jump and swerve around. It was the woman on the grey horse from before, but how had she gotten up on the battlements? And where was the horse?

"The idiot on the bike isn't Death, or at least he's only a small portion of Death. The man you see is the physical manifestation of a piece of Death's soul, this man's name is Lust." She explained to them. There was a few seconds of silence before she spoke once again, "And I am the Horseman of Famine. Aptly named Famine as one would imagine. Death sent us here to fight against another Horseman, War, who aids your enemies to spite Death. You may have noticed that your rival forces have amped themselves up recently." There it was, concrete evidence that Reyna wasn't just going insane, the enemy really had been getting progressively stronger.

A Horseman was going to fight a Horseman though, that spelled disaster for everyone involved. She personally didn't know who was stronger out of Famine and War but they also had Percy, or a 'piece of his soul' as Famine had put it.

Reyna had already made the connection, she'd also called him Lust and she knew about Percy's misadventures tracking down what the Gods had called his 'sins'. The pieces of his soul had to all have been the seven deadly sins. She expected that Lust alone would be enough to save them all.

"I know what you're thinking little lady." Famine interrupted Reyna's train of though. The surprise was written all over her face evidently as Famine adopted a smug smile. "He is indeed incredibly strong what with being a part of Death but you'll soon overlook that because of his overwhelmingly crass personality. There's a reason he's called Lust, just keep that in mind." Famine told her cautiously.

"But he's-... Gone?" Reyna looked around in confusion. He'd been there literally seconds ago. The bike was even still parked perfectly still upon the very edges of the ramparts along the top of the battlements. Famine sighed heavily behind the group.

"He's probably found himself a mixed gender bathhouse to entertain himself with before War gets onto the battlefield. Lust won't settle for fighting mere monsters when my dear brother had personally insulted Death about his sins' individual power." Famine moved over to the edge of the wall so that she could see the plans that had been laid out on a makeshift table.

"If you were able to teleport directly through all of our defences, defences that have so far stopped Titans and Gigantes from instantly coming past, then what chance do we have to survive against War if he can do it too?" Reyna asked the female Horseman. It was starting to all seem like a pipe-dream that any of them would live to see the sun rise after it fell in the coming hours.

"Because we are our namesakes down to our core when it comes to it. War cannot possibly manifest himself on this battlefield without personally fighting through the centre of the conflict. He could teleport instantly, like we did, if there wasn't a huge battle happening right there. You'll be fine Demi-god, that's why we came." Famine explained before happily sitting upon the ramparts and putting her feet up. She'd just have to relax until War showed his face, and in the meantime if any big bosses got brave enough to try and storm the front lines, well, she could at least have some target practice with the rifle that Conquest was surely going to be finished with pretty soon.

"How much time do we have before War arrives to make things worse?" Reyna fought off a yawn as she asked the Horseman about their estimates. She was hoping that she could get at least a half an hour of sleep. She'd been up for days co-ordinating their defences.

"Who knows? He could turn up in the next five minutes or he could turn up in days time. I'll be here to stop him when he does. You should probably get some rest Praetor, you look mighty tired." Reyna nodded slowly before letting a Centurion named Dakota take command, with that she returned to some tents that had been set up a few dozen meters behind the defensive wall that had been constructed. Famine hummed to herself quietly, she knew of a great place for that particular Praetor after this war had ended, she was sure that Death's love interest would be appreciative... If Artemis still had a hunt to return to after losing her virginity to Death.

 **Line Break**

A city of gold shimmered with the wind, constantly floating between multiple realms of reality and possibility. Lightweight leather boots that had been stained white gently touched down on the gleaming marble platform that overlooked the grand city.

Conquest looked around nervously, it had been hundreds of cycles since he'd set foot in the sacred city that so many held high in their hearts. He'd once lived in that place but that time was now long gone and he was no longer the man that he used to be, instead he remained as the Horseman of Conquest.

There was the sound of feathers fluttering and the wind snapping around ferociously for no more than an instant before there was another person standing alongside Conquest on the marble platform that overlooked the city beneath them. "I thought that was you, back in that dingy little warehouse that Lucifer had set up in an attempt to capture Death. I knew that someone like you could never have been killed off like they'd claimed." Uriel almost whispered as she slowly approached the Horseman of Chaos who's power shadowed her own. It was only natural and not exactly new to her.

"Thousands upon thousands of years and what has changed? Nothing at all by the looks of things. You always were indifferent to us... Gabriel." Uriel muttered as she finally came to be standing by his side. He was smaller than she remembered but after becoming a Horseman he'd assumed a new identity and thrown away his divine form, or at the very least he'd hidden it away.

Uriel wasn't really sure which one it could be as she noticed that Gabriel's eyes were staring longingly at her wings. Was it possible that his master had been the one to take them away from him?

"It hasn't been long enough in my opinion Uriel but I've been forced to take action." Conquest finally responded, "Back in that warehouse in the mortal realm, you nearly died. I cannot have the Holy City go on in time without any Archangels. You may be the last one to these people but that's not the whole truth." He reasoned before taking a deep breath in. It was taxing on his heart to have returned to the Holy City after so much time had passed.

All those years had passed since he'd defended Lucifer against absolute erasure from existence and what had it gotten him? Banishment at the hands of the other Archangels. It was almost comical that he'd stood by his once brother only to have another sworn brother kill Lucifer in the end anyway. He wanted to ask so many questions to his father, the one who had birthed the Angels in the first place, but he was long gone, he'd seen it for himself by Chaos' own power.

"Are you planning a spectacular, over the top return to your previous mantle? Even though they have been killed, the will of the Archangels still stays strong, I'm not sure I can overpower it on my own and you know that they would just as soon see Lucifer himself sit among the hierarchy as they would have you for your actions defending him." Uriel sighed softly.

"No." Conquest told her quickly, "I have my own duties to see to and there's none above the will of Lady Chaos, but there is another who can rise above the ranks of the Angels down there right now. This one will help you to rebuild and carry on stronger than ever." Conquest had begun to adopt a faint smile on his lips that did not go unnoticed by Uriel. He always had some sort of plan or trick waiting to unfold.

"There can't be. Archangels have always been of our lineage, none of us have any... Any..." There was a thick silence as Uriel had caught on to what Conquest had been telling her.

"She does not know that she is an Angel and she was not conceived whilst I held my mantle, which means that she is not even bound by your laws. She is half of what I have become and yet in her veins runs the blood of the Archangels. If she CHOOSE to assume the role, then she could." Conquest explained slowly.

In all the time they'd gone through countless cycles as the ones to be the guardians over the balance of this world, she'd never expected Gabriel to be the one to hold the life of another so highly as to go to the lengths he had to be able to disguise an Angel as a mere Human.

"When did this happen?"

"A little under two decades ago. She holds the power of an Archangel and the power of a Horseman in what appears to be a Human body. At most she would appear to be a Demi-god. I shall go to her and tell her the truth, perhaps you will get another Archangel to help you bring our race through this darkness cast by Lucifer, who, by the way, was completely erased from existence by Death. I wasn't even there and I felt it. Goodbye Uriel, I'll soar in the sky once again when I'm no longer needed by Chaos to fix the balance of power." Conquest told her sharply before bolting off of the edge of the marble platform. He plunged towards the floor of the white city before being shrouded by white flames that took him away from the constantly shifting reality and into the mortal realm, specifically above the place he needed to be. He feared for the world because in that exact moment he had a vision of clarity, a small spark of his powers as an Archangel had come back to him from the few minutes he'd spent in the Holy City.

He could see it now, all of it, the grand picture that including himself and his brothers all heading for the same single location. Famine who had Lust at her side, awaited her battle with War who had been riding towards New Rome at the same time as Death. Three of the four were about to be gathered but with Conquest becoming the final piece to hit the Roman battlefield...

Had Chaos destined the beginning of the Apocalypse?

 **A/N: Sorry I've been away for a while again, I'm a busy man.**

 **So what do you all think? Conquest is an Archangel, which you should have realized earlier. He has a daughter that thinks she's a Demi-god and all four Horsemen are about to meet at the same place for one of the biggest twists/fights yet. Hope you're all ready because it's about to go off!**


	24. Chapter 24 - For Whom The Bell Tolls

**Chapter 24 – For Whom The Bell Tolls**

It was inevitable.

He could feel it in his bones, it was in the air, it was like a stagnant cloud that followed thickly wherever he was about to go.

Someone powerful was going to die today.

Death watching from afar, keeping his presence limited so the others weren't particularly aware that he was merely observing, for the time being at least. He saw everything all at once. Artemis defying the will of Zeus who refused to allow the Gods to get involved with the battle at New Rome because of the involvement of the Four Horsemen. Many Gods were going to defy Zeus, not just Artemis who would join the battle for her hunters who had found refuge in New Rome while Artemis had been busy.

Death watched as everything unfolded, he watched Conquest finally face the harrowing part of his past, he saw the clocks ticking away in the man's mind. He wouldn't be surprised if Conquest was the first of the other three Horsemen to finally release their seals.

As Death stood upon the peak of a blood stained mountain on a primal planet he watched the skies, merely focusing on the drama that was collecting across the universe. Wish a snap of his fingers, he bound himself once more like he had in the past, but this time he wasn't doing it because he couldn't handle the full power of Death, he was doing it because he wasn't about to let the Apocalypse come forth when all four of them reached their true forms on the same single battlefield.

Ever so slowly as he bound a single percentage of his power away, the soft glow around his eyes had dulled down. That should have been enough to prevent anyone under Chaos herself from ending the world he'd lived on.

There was a sudden pang of energy that struck out at him like a siren. War was finally riding towards the battlefield, his plan was to aid the Giants and Primordials in a bid to absolutely destroy the Demigods of Olympus.

The Horseman of Death sighed slightly when he realized that not only was Famine already waiting for War but that his Sin of Lust was being… Exactly as he'd expecting him to act. He was sure that he'd be shunned by that bathhouse forever.

 **Line Break**

The spitting image of Percy Jackson ran full speed down the forum of New Rome in ragged leather trousers, some boots of the same ilk and barely managing to throw his jacket over the naked top half of his body, just under a dozen angry men were chasing him and all the while he was grinning away like he was having the time of his life, which as the sin of _Lust,_ he pretty much was.

"Oh Gods, what have you done!?" Reyna demanded in an almost hushed whisper as she watched him bolt around the temporary campsite. He never stopped to respond other than turning on his heel and winking right at her before continuing to tear through the middle of the tents before flipping up the side of the ramparts which Reyna couldn't help but be impressed with, they weren't exactly short. She didn't know why she was at all surprised, he was a part of Percy after all.

"Kill him! Kill Jackson!" She heard a voice that threw her head into an automatic feeling of pain as she watched Octavian come pushing through the crowd, clutching at a blood stained rag that had been firmly wrapped around his right hand.

"Why is it you always manage to get dressed exactly the way you were before, considering what I _know_ that you've been up to?" Reyna faintly heard Famine ask Lust followed by a quick yawn. Famine, despite being absolutely terrifying and shrouded in power that Reyna could only just comprehend, was actually quite cute. She would never admit it, to anyone, but the extremely light tint of green in Famine's skin seemed to glisten nicely against the setting sun.

"You started on the Deadly Sin, didn't you?" Reyna asked Octavian who was both absolutely livid and also going quite pale… More than normal. Judging by the way the rag was starting to dip towards the ground of its own accord, it looked as though he was being drained of quite a lot of blood.

 _"~'cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man!"_ They heard Lust reply in an outburst of song before Famine sighed heavily. Reyna couldn't help but slap her palm against her forehead, she couldn't deal with this, she genuinely could not be dealing with this amount of idiocy when there was so much going on.

"Arael!" Reyna called out. A few seconds later a slender woman with flowing blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes marched up to Reyna. She held a confident grin on show, it was obvious that in the heat of a battle was where she was the most comfortable.

It was strange to class Arael as anything other than an anomaly. She'd come to the camp at just over ten years old and even though she had never been claimed there was definitely something in her blood as she was able to see the things that other Demi-gods could. She was also one of the most capable fighters that Reyna had EVER met.

"Hey Reyna, what's up?" She asked as happily as ever. That girl always seemed to have a constant glow around her despite how dark the situation could get.

"I need you to lead the Second Cohort in a new assault, these waves are getting stronger and stronger and pretty soon we'll have an all-out battle between the same guys as Percy Jackson." Reyna explained quickly. She noticed that there was the smallest of reactions when she said that name but she had no idea what that could have been about.

"Can do, any support or am I going out to die against the three Giants that are slowly crawling across the horizon?" She asked casually before pointing just past Reyna's shoulder. The Praetor had desperately wished that Arael was just joking around but sure enough as she turned on her heel, there they were, three Giants coming towards them.

"Things just keep getting better and better don't they?" Reyna sighed inwardly. There was a sound of choked surprise coming from the battlements but the only ones up there were Lust and Famine and what exactly could they be surprised about.

"Don't they just?" She heard a somewhat familiar voice respond with a slight chuckle. Reyna couldn't believe her eyes, there was the spitting image of an Angel casually striding straight towards the battlements. He wasn't a Demi-god, there was no chance, he looked young of course but the way he carried himself wasn't that of a teenager approaching adulthood but of someone who carried extreme authority.

"Hey! Conquest, how's it goin'!?" Lust called out with an excited wave. Reyna wasn't sure why she should be surprised, she had to keep Lust in check for hours earlier, his excitement at seeing another Horseman enter the fray shouldn't have seemed anything out of the ordinary.

"All four of us are coming here Famine, are we riding today?" Conquest's tone had turned stony. There were far more important things than his own amusement. Famine took in his words but her expression never changed as she silently thought about how that would go down.

"No, not today. Death would never allow it, he'll no doubt have already put in some safety measures to ensure that we don't start the apocalypse, which brings me to my next point, why are you here?" Famine asked with narrowed eyes. There was something amiss with the people Conquest was standing around, one of them seemed out of the ordinary.

"Arael, take the Second out to the front lines, relieve the Third and Fourth, you can have Diana's Hunters as back-up, they've already told me that they're willing to help. Gwen, get Octavian to a medic or something along those lines. Things are about to get hot out here." Reyna commanded them all.

"No time for rallying, miss Reyna, the War is about to begin." Conquest told her with a grim nod towards the skies that were burning red with a meteor coming down to strike the soon to be scorched earth where the Horseman of War had decided to make his entrance.

" _Am I evil? Yes I am!"_ Lust laughed maniacally as he vaulted the ramparts before the roar of an engine was heard and he ended up speeding through the trenches towards the giants and the newly entranced War.

Reyna had finally gotten to the top of the ramparts to watch the oncoming battle between War and Lust while Famine and Conquest were both happy to observe for the time being. Down below, the Second Cohort was being led into the battlefield by someone who managed to catch Conquest's eye. Someone that did not belong in this place.

The girl reminded him so much of the years following his banishment from the Holy City. He'd roamed freely across the world, constantly supressing any traces that he was an Archangel. He'd gone far and wide under the guise of a mercenary for hire type thing. That was of course back when the world had been in a more advanced yet still primitive way of life, thousands of cycles ago.

"Can he do it? Can that clone of Percy really beat the Horseman of War?" Reyna muttered under her breath, unaware of the intense senses that the other Horsemen held.

"More than likely, he might be a clone but it's Death we're talking about and after all is said and done, Death is on par or stronger than Chaos and dare I say Void itself." Famine responded, finally getting up from her seated position.

"Things are about to get intense, might as well remove our seals while we can do it painlessly." Conquest sighed casually.

"If you think that's necessary. You're the second strongest and Death is on his way here, what makes you think that we'll need all of that just to beat War?" She asked him almost incredulously. Conquest gazed at her with an empty stare for a moment.

"Because he won't go down without a fight, he'll release all of his seals the moment it looks like he's losing and then it becomes not just a matter of CAN we beat War but also a matter of CAN we beat War and save the lives of these Demigods as well." Conquest suddenly grinned as he held up his wrists. There was a bright light that soon revealed two vibrant golden bands across the skin of his hands that soon broke apart with the sounds of metal chains being struck. It happened a few more times before there was silence and the light faded.

"Feels good to be back." Conquest breathed in heavily.

"You know, this is the first time since I've met you that you've released your seals and I'm pretty disappointed, you don't look any different." Famine pondered out loud as she shamelessly let her eyes wander over Conquest.

"That's because I've released my power, not my true form. I'll do that if necessary, just like War will and just like you more than likely will have to." Conquest reasoned quickly before once again casting his gaze towards the battlefield, a few more seconds and Lust would be within War's reach and vice versa. It was a pretty close match between Death's absolutely weakest seal and the Horseman of War, and they knew that but with Death soon arriving and Conquest releasing his seals there was very limited possibility for them to lose this fight.

"He sends out his weakest sin to fight me? Lust isn't even worth my conscious effort to crush, face me yourself Death!" War boomed out at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing from the slatted iron coloured helmet sitting comfortably over his head. His whole suit of armour looked like it was almost glowing with a red darkness that was shrouding him and all those enemies behind him that were rushing forwards only to be met by the Second Cohort and Artemis' Hunters.

Lust took a deep breath in before opening his eyes, "Who shat in your coffee? You're super grumpy today War, was it something that I-WOAH, hello gorgeous!" Lust lost track literally the second that Arael ran past him, leading the Second Cohort against the waves of amped up enemies.

"You think now's an appropriate time!?" She boomed at him with a scathing glare. Lust was about to respond before War had struck out with the first blow by grabbing Arael by the neck. He'd never intended to directly involve himself with the Demi-gods of the camp but there was something off about her.

"Tell me something, why are you in a camp for Demi-gods when there isn't a trace of godly blood in your body, and why, WHY, do you smell like my brother?" He asked her simply as he held her up high by the neck. Lust was about to move in and rip War's arm off before savagely beating him to death with it but in the instant that not even Lust and the Horsemen could seem to comprehend, Conquest had appeared between the middle of everyone, holding Arael in one arm and War's dismembered arm in the other.

"It's because she's not a Demi-god, _brother,_ she's my daughter, and you just tried to hurt her." Conquest's eyes had taken on a hue of pure white with wisps of gold flowing freely from within them. The sheer volume of power had shaken Famine, she knew there was a reason that he was the second strongest but she never expected it to be THIS much.

War stepped back shakily, droves of black blood seeped out of the hole where an arm should have been. It spewed across his armour in thick lines of dropping blood. "What are you!? You should not be this strong!" War demanded, fear stricken voice echoing around the battlefield. Lust stood with his hands in his pockets merely watching the current drama unfold. There was a feeling of a new presence entering the battlefield that only HE could feel. With a single upward glance, Lust found that his master had come to watch as well but with everything being focused on Conquest, Lust doubted that anyone else had noticed Death's arrival, his gaze fell upon them all from the skies, huge black feathery wings kept him aloft.

"You'd do well to listen to my words War as I've been around long before you have. My name is Gabriel and I am the Archangel that overlooked the banishment of my own brother, Lucifer. I was the one who was cast out of Heaven and chosen to become a Horseman, you were a mere primal animal before ascension, and YOU… Just tried to hurt my daughter, Death isn't the one you should fear right now." Conquest told them all as he put Arael down before erupting in a bright light that blinded all, even the Horsemen.

Percy chuckled quietly from above. So he'd really gone through with it, huh? He had to admit, Conquest really was quite impressive when he wasn't stoned so much that he was forced to lie in a field for half a year.

When the light faded, there he stood but somewhat different. He was nearly a whole foot taller, slightly leaner, his face ever so gaunt. His body was glowing vibrantly and to top it off he had a pair of magnificent white wings spreading out from his back, both of which protruded from plates of white armour with gold trim. "Gabriel has returned." Percy muttered happily. Perhaps with Conquest releasing his seals he wouldn't have to get involved at all.

Perhaps.

 **A/N: Two chapters in some amount of days, lucky you!**


	25. Chapter 25 - The Ultimate Sin

**Chapter 25 – The Ultimate Sin**

So… There WAS a way for Void to triumph over Death. She watched him from afar, completely undetected by his corporeal body who was busy overseeing the battle between the other Horsemen. Void had laid out a perfect plan to break Death back down into an eternal slumber.

She was going to break the mind of Percy Jackson, she was going to put him into an eternal slumber, his own mind acting as a prison for him to relive his entire life countless times in an endless cycles, except this time there would be some game changing differences. She was going to make his mind simulate the life of a Titan, she'd force him to have to fight against Olympus, against those that he loved and the whole time she'd force him to live through the constant torments that only Lucifer had ever been able to give him.

The plan was set, and with the snap of her fingers, Void grinned maliciously as she felt Death's physical body disappear completely. The time to move forward was now, but she would at least wait until the conflicts on his favoured planet were resolved by their own means. He was still Death after all and she'd experience his wrath if he ever found out that she was the one to prematurely end his home. Void held a triumphant smile before creating a copy of herself that reflected almost none of her power, she was going to watch the events of the Earth unfold but in person.

Halfway across the universe on the battlefield where Roman blood had been spilled alongside that of countless monsters, giants and even that of a Horseman, a single being that different from the rest had suddenly looked towards the sky with confusion thick in his eyes.

The master was… Gone? Lust had always felt a connection to Death at all times but he was suddenly just gone… "ARGH!" Lust erupted into pain, his voice echoing across the entire battlefield which effectively gained everyone's attention. Famine adopted a look of intense fear for a fraction of a second. What could cause one of the Seven Deadly Sins so much pain?

Before any answers were found, Lust exploded in a cloud of deep pink dust that soon after had dispersed among the air. Reyna ran towards the battlements, that scream had echoed all around New Rome, there hadn't been a living soul that had missed it. Had the tides of war finally turned back against them?

Reyna feared for the worst but all she gained from viewing the fight was a sense of confusion. War was dying by the looks of it, he was bleeding everywhere and his arm was mangled on the ground. In front of him stood what faintly looked like Conquest and right beside him was none other than Arael who had a strong glow surrounding her body. She was kneeling on the ground, clutching at her arm and glaring intensely at War. Fury had flowed through her veins after the revelation of who she was had become too much for her to process, instead she had jumped forwards and joined her supposed father in the fight against the Horseman.

"What the Hell is going on!?" Reyna demanded immediately. Famine slowly sat back against the rocky red bricks of the ramparts with thick fascination clouding around her expression. Had that really just happened or was it all just an illusion? No, Lust wasn't the type for trickery, he was straight up. Annoying, but always straight up, whatever had happened to him wasn't his own design.

A lightning bolt that seared the skies had struck the ground revealing none other than Zeus. He stood tall and proud with a youthful face and body. He was positively overflowing with a power that Famine had no idea that the Gods were even capable of possessing. So there was a real reason that he was the King of Olympus after all.

"WHO HAS DARED TO DEFILE THE OLYMPIAN COUNCIL!?" He boomed ferociously. Thick shadows whipped around the ground before Hades had come forth, brandishing a fiery pitchfork in his hands, he too had looked far younger than ever before.

Just as Famine had expected, Poseidon had taken mere seconds before he'd finished compiling the big three. Just what the Hell was going on? She could hardly believe it. One moment she was bored so much that she was letting Lust go and fight against War and the next, Conquest had revealed himself to be an Archangel, he had a daughter that he'd masqueraded as a Roman Demigod and then the three brothers of the Olympian Council had suddenly barraged onto the battlefield.

Famine had mostly expected the Gods to steer clear of this fight what with three Horsemen fighting in the middle, not to mention one of Death's sins. "So Jupiter finally shows his face on this battlefield of ours!?" Porphyrion laughed heavily as he desperately tried to make his presence known across the field of Mars.

Zeus regarded him casually with only the attention of a sideways glance before he struck his bolt out. Zeus slammed Porphyrion in the centre of his body, the unbridled rage of the King of the Gods surged through the giant before reducing him into nothing more than ash and dust that looked like it would struggle to ever reform.

"Impossible! We were fated to only ever be bested by a God and a Demigod working together!" Another giant bellowed in fear. Hades snapped his palm out towards them and within an instant they were shrouded in shadows that viciously pulled them into the ground below.

"That was until you made the mistake of ripping a God from our midst and sentencing them to a fate worse than Death… Exile. That is a sentence that only a King can grant. You have made Olympus furious, and now you must accept the consequences." Poseidon explained, the clouds above them started to turn black with the combined rage of the Gods coming down upon Gaea's forces.

"Horseman, tell me something." Reyna whispered by Famine's side. The whole war had totally taken its toll on her but with the addition of the Gods who weren't even her own, it became abundantly clear that she needed some help.

Famine cast her gaze down to the Demigod who had done so admirably to have co-ordinated a battle that they could never have won on their own. The rain drops were gliding down her tanned skin as the storm above them began to roll in.

"What just happened? I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt it, but at the exact moment that Lust exploded… Everything just felt wrong." Reyna sighed heavily, was this her breaking point? She could barely stand any longer. Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were going on a rampage and absolutely decimating the Giants and Gaea's forces, they no longer cared about ancient laws when it was obvious that they'd already been broken by someone else.

Conquest looked like he was almost reaching an atomic level of rage as he continued to dominate War who had yet to unleash his full power and Arael was slowly regaining her strength. It was clear that she was yet to fully understand the straight forward answer that she'd been seeking for her whole life.

Famine sighed slightly, she knew exactly what had happened, and honestly? It scared her, she wasn't sure what was going to happen when 'THEY' all arrived at the same point that Death had left. "Death has been forced into a slumber, which means that his material body, or rather, Percy Jackson, has been imprisoned within his own mind, alongside two other beings, one of which I watched being reaped by Death." Famine told her. Reyna's eyes widened.

There was someone powerful enough to make Percy a prisoner of his own mind? Not only that but they'd also caused two others to be in the same situation as the man who had returned as Death itself.

Reyna said nothing but simply awaited Famine to continue as she knew there would be more, "With Death gone, his sins have all been released as free beings, like how you saw Lust but this time… It's all of them but without their master to keep them reigned in… I'm not going to lie to you, Reyna, daughter of Bellona. I'm scared of what's coming our way." Famine looked towards the blackened skies. War was no longer a problem, not even slightly, not compared to what had just been freed with its own free will.

"If its something that scares you, then its something that I could never fight against, it's not my problem when I've already got a field full of my people dying at the hands of an enemy that I CAN do something against, so stop feeling sorry for yourself, or worrying about Percy Jackson, he's been through literal Hell, he'll be fine in his own mind." Reyna pulled herself up, trying so desperately to find the last remaining reserves of her energy, if the Horseman was going to stand idly by then that was fine, she'd just have to go out and fight by herself. She would have rained arrows down from the skies if she'd still had Scipio fighting by her side.

Before Reyna could take another step forwards, there was another cloud of thick pink that erupted before their very eyes, before she could say anything, Lust was lying sideways on the edge of the ramparts where his bike had once been. He had his head propped up by his hand and looked extremely bored with everything, "That's what a unicorn's fart looks like, true story." He nodded happily. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened.

"Where did you go?" Famine glared, folding her arms and stepping in front of Reyna ever so slightly in case it wasn't Lust that had appeared before them. She believed it was purely from the way that he'd appeared in front of them with such a pose.

"I died." He shrugged casually, sitting nonchalantly from a silver goblet encrusted with rubies. Famine had no idea where he'd gotten it from OR what was inside it but in the time she'd been alive, she knew better than to ask such questions of any kind of aspect of her idiot Horsemen brothers.

"You DIED!?" Famine asked, doing a double take at him as she wondered what he meant. He couldn't have possibly died but if he had been killed then reformed then it served to confirm what she had suspected was happening all along.

"That's what I just said, I don't know what's happened to master but for some reason, we're all free now, like… TOTALLY free, good thing we all made a contingency plan for this sort of thing, so relax, nobody is going to destroy you, not on purpose at least." Lust laughed at his own little joke at the end. Famine seemed to relax. It was impressive, they must have all agreed on a plan of action whilst they were still forced to be nothing more than those little stone seals of power.

"So if none of you sins were to blame for that outburst that you had, who killed you?" Famine asked the question that had plagued the battlefield since it had happened. Almost as soon as she asked the question, she felt a cold shiver race down the back of her spine which caused her to instinctively reach for her whip. Was this what Conquest knew was REALLY on its way? Is that why he wanted her to release her seals?

" _That_ bitch." Lust glared, pointing a finger right behind Famine and Reyna who both turned on their heels immediately. Standing there with a hand on her hips was the most beautiful woman that both women had ever seen before, and Famine knew exactly who it was if she had gone out of her way to personally kill the sin of Lust, no matter how ineffective it had truly been.

"What did you expect, we ARE opposing entities." She giggled for a second before adjusting her focus to Famine and Reyna. She wore baggy combat trousers that hugged tight at the waist and got progressively looser as they finally reached the polished black leather boots that the trousers were tucked into. She had a modest white t-shirt over the top half of her body. Her natural eyes which consisted of a constantly shifting pattern of dark colours from blacks to more vibrant shades like gleaming purple, they were the kind of eyes that contrasted perfectly with her creamy white skin and went perfectly with her long shimmering obsidian hair that flowed down her back.

"I have to admit, it took you a few seconds longer than I expected, perhaps little of Prudence isn't as strong as she thinks she is?" Lust produced that toothy grin that was becoming so iconic to him before taking another sip from that silver goblet. Considering that

"It's Chastity, not Prudence you imbecile. I'll destroy you again if necessary." She grunted unhappily before folding her arms and pouting as if that made any more sense. Famine and Reyna were both standing there in the dead centre of a feud between two almost primordial opposing forces. Even if there was something they could do to prevent them from fighting, would they be able to enforce it?

Reyna was sure that she was starting to see a pattern of correlation between all of these higher powers turning up and the point in time where all of her soldiers seemed to take a far higher interest in the oncoming waves of enemies than that of being anywhere near her.

"Pfft, like you could, you only managed to kill me last time because I was so distracted by the master's disappearance that you managed to get a cheap shot at me, so if you think you could kill me in a straight up fight," He finished the contents of his goblet before launching it above them, "~ _hit me with your best shot!"_ He sang with that same grin.

There was a moment of intense silence where the only noise that could be heard was the constant pattering of raindrops hitting the ground at their feet. Reyna and Famine both exchanged a look of sheer horror before the silver goblet clanged against the ground.

Chastity raised her hand to smite Lust but the instant she was about to strike out at him, there was a strong hand clasping her wrist in an unmoving grip. They all turned their heads to see the new arrival.

"Oh." Lust's joyful tone had shifted to that of something Reyna could only describe as completely neutral. All of the joy had vanished and his widespread challenging stance had been reduced to that of a lax soldier who didn't quite know what to do with themselves, "Fuck." Lust continued to mutter under his breath.

"The Seven Heavenly Virtues were created to be a perfect counter balance to us Deadly Sins, but the fact of the matter remains to be that the power of Death would always be tipped in favour over Chaos… In terms of combat at least." There was a second almost perfectly identical copy of Percy standing there, effortlessly holding the Virtue at bay with only one hand. He even looked bored whilst doing it. Reyna noticed that Famine's breathing had becoming forced… She was desperately trying to remain calm in this Sin's presence.

"Wrath." The Virtue breathed out shakily. There was a deep pressure that enveloped the whole of the ramparts, a blood red glow irradiated out of his eyes as he continued to prove just how overwhelming he was compared to the power of the Heavenly Virtue.

"Wrath! Enough, you'll kill the Demigods!" Famine shouted. That seemed to have been enough to cause Wrath to regain his sense and ease up almost completely. He even released Chastity from his grip before slowly walking towards Famine who had gained a slight sweat.

"You're still in your fleshy Horseman prison, why is that? Conquest has finally faced his past, the master is about to undergo a similar task and then there's you and War. War is a beast, a primal animal nothing more, but before ascension to being a chosen Horseman… You were a Goddess, so why have you remained?" He asked her, keeping an immensely calm disposition considering that he was known as the Sin of Wrath. Reyna was rather glad of that fact though.

"Because my time revered as a Goddess has long gone, all Gods needed support from their people but since becoming a Horseman, my people slowly forgot about me, if I release my seals, I will slowly die." Famine told the Sin with a glare in her eye. Her past life had been exposed in the lone minute that the Sin of Wrath had been around.

"As one of the Four Horsemen, you have enough power to bestow your mantle upon someone else, one body, two minds, one a Goddess that you used to be, the other the Horseman of Famine. It's your choice but it means you could release your seals and still not die, it also means that the person who you chose to becoming one with, with be the dominant body, and you will only be able to take over that body with a mutual agreement." Wrath explained. Famine listened carefully to his words. She'd have to give her mantle to someone else, her current body would die though, she liked her body but it was the body of a Goddess who had no time left on her own. Perhaps that was the best way to move forwards, she would always be the Horseman of Famine, that was just who she was now.

Nothing but silence among the rain as they heard Wrath's words. "Why would I need to release my seals? Conquest is at full power, we have Lust, Wrath and Chastity all fighting together against the weaker Horseman, not to mention that the Olympian Gods are going AWOL and completely decimating Gaea's forces. There remains to be nothing left for us here, so why exactly would I need to regain my power?" Famine asked, her eyes dimmed ever so slightly before they returned to their natural colour.

"The reason that master has disappeared is because Void has imprisoned Percy Jackson inside his own mind, Void ripped Lady Artemis out of the Olympian throne room and thrust her inside Percy's mind alongside the one being that could break the mentality of master Death…" Wrath sighed ever so slightly, hoping that they were all understanding what was going on.

"That's not possibly, I felt it as well but that's NOT POSSIBLE!" Famine bellowed, "Percy Jackson regained all of the power that was handed to him as he assumed the mantle of Death, and as Death, he reaped Lucifer's soul completely, Void could not prevent that, Chaos cannot rebuild him, not after that, so HOW has that happened?" Famine rambled, loosing her cool at the thought of what was going on, there was an underlying tone that Wrath hadn't wanted to verbally announce/

"Because of Death being imprisoned by his OWN MIND, he's been subconsciously tricked into recreating Lucifer within the confines of said mental prison. He's going to have to pull through that on his own, or with Artemis by his side, who knows? Not even Chaos would be able to see what he's going to have to go through, not inside his own mind, not even us Sins know what's going to happen to him, all we can do for now is prepare, because what Void has just done to the master is none other than an act of war… Speaking of." Wrath suddenly found himself a new target, one that had just gone through a process similar to what Conquest had done previously.

The Archangel and his daughter had noticed the arrival of the one identical to Lust but the aura that followed him was almost unfathomable, even to them who excelled at divine perception. Wrath exploded in a cloud of dark red dust, dissimilar to Lust's only in colour, before reappearing in front of Conquest.

War was now the same size as the Giants that were being thoroughly thrashed by the Elder Gods of Olympus. War held impressively long axes in either hand and didn't seem at all bothered by the prospect that he was about to face off against the Wrath of Death.

"Finally, the one I sought to destroy first, come on then, puny Sin, show me your power!" War screeched before striking the ground with one of his axes. A shower of dust had covered the entire warzone before dispersing to reveal Wrath standing as casually as ever with just a single finger pressed firmly against the razor sharp edge of the enormous axe War had slammed against him. A second later there was the sound of metal shattering as large plates of obliterated axe fell to the ground around him.

Lust sighed as he watched the on-going fight, "Yep, the ultimate sin steals the show once again." From just behind him, Chastity glared at the back of his head. She hated him yet she hated the fact that she hated him even more. The only reason that she 'hated' him was because she was born to be the polar opposite of his sheer existence, otherwise, she had no problem with him, he was just another Sin of Death after all, just as she was a Virtue of Chaos.

"Lust, I want you and Chastity to go around this city, find me a woman that finds your existence disgusting, I need to find someone who will take up the mantle of dying Goddess." Famine sighed contently with the most tragic smile on her face. She feared the day that she would lose her identity as the Goddess of her planet but it had finally come to be that her duties as a Horseman had taken even that much from her.

"I will." Reyna's voice prevented either Lust or Chastity from responding to Famine's request. The Horseman merely looked at Reyna with surprise in her eyes. The girl she'd spent the past however long standing and merely watching the battlefield with, she was willing to become the Goddess that Famine once was?

"It's a hard burden to bear, you'd also be the face of the Horseman of Famine, understand at least that much."

"I know, I understand what it will take. It wont be a case of I'm a Goddess, you're a Horseman, we'll both turn into both of those things, two minds, one body, all of the power you'll need to fight against this new threat, I know. I've wanted to be able to do more to help my people, if this is what it takes then I agree." Reyna's immense determination was shining in her eyes. Famine could already tell that she was serious about all of that.

"OK, Reyna, let's do this." Famine sighed, this time with a smile of content as she placed her hand on Reyna's shoulder and they were both engulfed in a shining light.

"Oh shit, I'm not sure who to watch!" Lust squealed as he quickly darted between Reyna and Famine, and Wrath finally changing from simply defending against War, to fighting the Horseman. Lust was having the time of his life and he wasn't even neck deep in women.

Sins, Virtues, unleashed Horsemen and to top it off, Death has been rendered immobile alongside Artemis and Lucifer, did I miss anything?" Conquest asked as he finally joined Lust and Chastity on the ramparts. The unconscious form of Arael in his arms as he gently landed on the ground. Famine and Reyna were completely hidden from view, even to Conquest's angelic perception.

"No, you've got it correct. We're going to war with Void, when we can finish the business that the idiot's master had set out to do." Chastity confirmed with a slight nod.

"Fine, I will go to Chaos' plateau, I expect Void still remains there, you'll know the war is truly starting if she attempts to kill me. First, I must take my daughter to the Holy City, she shall not be caught up in a war between those three." Conquest flapped his immense wings before anyone could argue, he was already halfway through a tear in reality that sealed itself once he was through.

"New Goddess slash Horseman," Lust pointed at the still glowing forms of Reyna and Famine, "Soon to be dead Horseman slash rapidly strengthening Sin of Wrath," He pointed, focusing on War and Wrath fighting in the battlefield. "Gods of Olympus that are angry at Gaea and Tartarus even though they had no part in Artemis' kidnapping," Lust's gaze grazed over Zeus, Poseidon and Hades who were each exacting some gruesome killing manoeuvres on bands of lesser giants that had followed the Gigantes into battle.

"Heavenly Virtue that is drawn to destroy me," Lust finally got around to pointing at Chastity who sighed and rolled her eyes at him, "So, if you've got the time, I'd probably destroy you, but, you know, in the way that I destroy people." He winked at her.

"You're disgusting. You KNOW that Death and Chaos are Primordial siblings right?" Chastity asked him, feeling sick just being around him, yet she couldn't exactly even place why, it was just their existences disagreeing on a physical level.

"I'm the Sin of Lust, my only siblings are the other six Sins, moreover, I'm physically Percy Jackson, so, in summary, I'd definitely smash every single Heavenly Virtue if they all look like you, I don't know what Void looks like, but more than likely I'd also be stricken by my own Sin to sleep with them as well." Lust shrugged yet again with that toothy grin on show.

"You truly disgust me but your logic isn't exactly flawed. I hate you, more because I don't even have a reason to hate you, so just shut up and come on, we have a special mission and we're no longer needed here as Wrath has just ended this fight once and for all." Chastity told her polar opposite before gesturing to the field of Mars.

"What!?" Lust span around at the speed of light only to see the giant form of War standing perfectly still, his body being balanced upright by the axe that remained in his hand standing firmly against the ground. There was a hole the size of a car that went through the dead centre of his chest. It seemed that Wrath had gotten bored of toying around with War.

With a cloud of red to mark his leaving of the battlefield, another cloud signed that he'd appeared back on the ramparts, "No more reason to be here, I shall watch over these teenagers whilst Famine is busy merging with the Demigod. I believe you both have somewhere else to be." Wrath hinted at Lust and Chastity before folding his arms and merely watching the fight between Demigods and monsters ensue. They had lost most of their commanders but with the remaining centurions being watched over by the Elder Gods who were still fighting heartily against Gaea's forces, they had found new morale and weren't letting the enemy waves gain any further ground.

Wrath would stay until Famine had returned or until Gaea and Tartarus decided to make an appearance, then he'd smite them as well just for fun. He grunted slightly in amusement at his own thoughts before feeling Lust and Chastity's presence disappear.

He dreaded to think what the master was having to go through right now…

Especially with Lucifer by his side for every minute of it.

 **Line Break : Bet you mother fuckers didn't expect a chapter this long.**

Percy woke up groggily in a set of thick celestial gold chains that were firmly wrapped around his wrists holding his arms towards the ceiling of a dingy little stone building. There was a single window of iron bars that let sunlight flood in and shine on the lower half of his face.

"Ugh, what happened?" He asked with a groggy yawn, why was he tired? He never got tired, that wasn't how it worked being Death.

"Beats me, one moment I was bitch slapping your girlfriend and getting reaped painfully by your scythe, the next moment I'm in here, with you." A man's voice reached Percy's ears, it sounded familiar yet different to what he swore he knew it had sounded like previously. As he pulled his head above the blinding rays of light, his eyes widened in a mixture of horror, surprise, confusion and just plain anger. Lucifer was sitting on a rickety table by the wall, swinging a single leg casually as he threw what looked like a tennis ball at the wall before catching it and repeating it once again.

"You're dead, I killed you with complete erasure." Percy stuttered quickly before trying to stand up, that was when he noticed that he was being held in chains.

"What the Hell?" His mask of confusion only grew thicker as he found himself completely unable to use any of his natural power.

"Exactly." Lucifer grinned, scratching his leg that was wrapped in some baggy jeans. Since when had the devil given up fancy suits for casual denim? "See, thing is Percy, old buddy, I'm not alive, I'm only real inside your mind, a gift from Void as it were, buuuttt, since she's managed to trap not only YOU but the real Artemis inside your mind, that's where we are by the way, then I will be real to this entire world for the time that you're kept as a prisoner in here." Lucifer explained before giving a brief sigh.

"Doesn't surprise me, so what has she actually decided are the materialistic of my own mental incarceration?" Percy asked, pulling at one of the chains just because he could. He was surprised to see that there was a crack appearing around the part of the wall that the chains were tethered to.

"Ooh, look at that. Looks like your natural strength, while severely limited, is slowly coming back to you. So, the 'rules' as you put it, are a bit more complex than simple rules. You have to get good old Lady Artemis to see reason and understand that you're both being held prisoner inside your mind, the only difference is that we're not where you kiddos left off in the current day." Lucifer yawned and stretched his arms before standing up and walking over to Percy, their faces only inches apart.

"This is the real kicker champ, you're way back in ancient Greece, Artemis is the leading force against the Titan invasion, and you, just so happen to be Perseus Jackson, the legendary Titan who killed off nearly half of her huntresses alone." Lucifer laughed as he saw the look of pain cross Percy's face.

"Oh for fuck sake." Percy cursed before giving himself a moment to go over what Lucifer had just told him. "So why am I in chains if I'm a supposed legendary Titan?" He glared at the devil who had tortured him endlessly for so long.

"Exposition I'd imagine." Lucifer waved his hand lazily. It seemed that he wasn't a fan of the situation they were in either.

"If you're here, why haven't you tried to torture me or anything?" Death asked the question that had been on his mind since Lucifer had begun to talk.

The Fallen Angel looked over to his previously most hated enemy, "Because I'm not the asshole devil that you killed, I'm the Lucifer that was created by your own power, Perseus." Lucifer prodded Percy in the head to add emphasis to his words, "Besides, I can't kill you, nothing can, even in this world where your power is that of your weaker Sins, you're still immortal to all extents but the task is one that will be almost impossible for you. Luckily, I don't think your ever so considerate sister took into account the fact that I wouldn't be recreated as the devil that wants to kill you."

"And WHY is that?" Percy looked up, pulling on his chains once again, this time managing to rip one of them out of the wall. The celestial bronze was still binding his powers away but it wasn't stopping his natural strength that was quickly seeping back into him.

"Because in here, I'm exactly as powerful as you are, and if we succeed, I want to smash Void in the face before my body fades back into nothing, how's that for a good deal?" Lucifer grinned, resting on his toes right in front of Percy's face.

"So because of my own passive influence, you've been resurrected, if only temporarily inside my own mind, as NOT inherently evil?" He struggled to imagine the difference on history if Lucifer had been THIS way from the beginning.

"Bingo, the bad boy finally understands. Now, I'm pretty sure Artemis is on her way here as we speak so that she can torture you, let's get out of this situation and make our mark on the world of ancient Greece, shall we?" Lucifer's grin was one that made Percy cautious about whether or not he was telling the truth. It was entirely possible that he really wasn't evil any longer but at the same time it was still Lucifer, only time would tell but Percy had no reason to cast aside the help of the only other being inside his mind that truly knew what was going on.

Lucifer ripped the other chain out of the wall with no effort at all, with a snap of his fingers the shackles had been broken open, releasing Death once again. The glow of power quickly came flowing back into him just as it had every time he'd released one of his Sins.

"So, ' _Titan',_ are you ready to break Void's trap? A word of warning before anything happens though, only three beings are real in this world, because we're in your mind. You, Artemis and myself. I'm tied directly to you, so even though my body is real, you can't kill me, vice versa. Artemis though? Even though she thinks you're each other's arch-enemy, she can still be killed by people like us, better keep an extra close eye on her." Lucifer winked before gently kicking at the frigid wooden door to the small prison cell. As if on cue, the whole building aside from the door had broken apart at the seams and fallen down all around them. "Huh." Lucifer muttered, scratching his chin as they both looked around their surroundings to see that there were at least thirty girls all clad in silver, pointing knocked arrows right at them.

Percy glared at Lucifer who was grinning sheepishly, "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" He growled. Before he could continue scalding Lucifer, the Fallen Angel pointed at the most prominent entity around them. Percy looked to his side to see a true sight to behold.

"Holy shit she was even beautiful four thousand years ago." He said as he found himself locked eyes with Artemis who had a gigantic silver bow ready to unleash right at him.

"Perseus, the Titan of Death, you who dared to defile the ancient laws and murder my hunters, what do you have to say in your defence?" Artemis' voice was cold and filled to the brim with hatred, so really, nothing had changed from then and when Percy had first met her.

"Don't blame me, he was the one who kicked the doors down!" Percy pleaded like a child as he pointed at Lucifer. He still held the power of one of his Sins? Then he'd have a little bit of fun inside this prison built by Chaos, he'd shown Artemis the truth somehow but he couldn't use force.

"What!? Don't blame me, my power is your power, you'd have fared no better with being gentle." Lucifer glared prominently as he had his hands in his pockets, both of them feeling unphased by the thirty odd arrows that could come flying at them at any time.

"You're to blame for nearly everything when you're involved, now is no exception. I can't harm any of these huntresses and I can't exactly storm Olympus, how do I get out of this situation?" Percy completely ignored the hunters and Artemis as he turned to face Lucifer, folding his arms and watching the devil think of something.

"I've got the perfect plan, trust me." Lucifer grinned once again before clicking his fingers, out of nowhere a microphone dropped into his hands. Percy tensed up, why the Hell did he create a microphone?

" _~You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips."_ Lucifer sang softly as he slowly walked towards the closest hunter who had a bow aimed at his face.

"You have got to be kidding me." Percy said out loud, any hopes of not being injured while they got out of their current situation quickly draining as he noticed the increasingly unimpressed looks on the hunter's faces.

 _"~There's no tenderness like before in your fingertips."_

"We are so getting shot." Percy sighed, already realizing that in his weakened form he'd actually feel the pain of being shot if he was unlucky enough to not dodge the arrows properly.

 _"~You're trying hard not to show it but baby, baby I know it!"_

"What's he doing!?" Artemis demanded furiously as she kept switching target between the two of them, unsure of who this new contact was or just how dangerous they could be. They were with Perseus so it was highly likely that they were not to be underestimated.

 _"~You've lost that loving feeling!"_

"This is a fate worse than death." Percy sighed before kneeling against the ground. How did he end up imprisoned within his own mind being held at the equivalent of gunpoint by his lover while Lucifer was serenading them to buy time for a plan than neither of them had?

 **A/N: A LOT of shit has happened this chapter, I think I deserve a review.**


	26. Chapter 26 - Festive Fighting

**Chapter 26 – Festive Fighting**

 **A/N: Yo! It's Santa Socrates, just dropping off your present! I see people are liking the dynamic between weakened Percy and new Luci which is frankly just awesome. I never expected to get such a positive response from you all. This is now my most reviewed story. Lets try and get it into the top 10 ;)**

" _~when I hear that trumpet sound, imma rise right outta the ground~"_ Lucifer sang gently with a sombre tone before sidestepping gracefully to avoid having his left leg being impaled by a silver arrow travelling at incredible speeds.

So his plan to serenade the Hunters of Artemis to buy them time had not worked, it had NOT worked.

Percy glared at him furiously as he too was running away from the rapid silver blurs of the hunters that were all stalking the two of them down what could only be described as an ancient bone yard. The ground was rocky and arid, filled with cracks that were mostly covered by patches of dry sand. The sky was still the brightest azure with a strong sun sitting happily in the middle as it glared down intense heat on them.

"I think we've established that your singing is NOT helping our situation!" Percy shouted before jumping high over an arrow from Artemis herself that whistled past them before making contact with the ground and exploding violently, sending chunks of rocks and debris flying wildly.

"I can sing fairytale of New York to her instead? She might like the chorus." Lucifer started grinning, keeping perfect pace with Percy the entire time. That had struck Death as somewhat odd, that Lucifer of all people would be willing to sing a song from Christmas festivities.

"Why a Christmas song?" Percy raised a single eyebrow before returning his attention to avoiding getting shot. Being trapped inside his own mind was a horrendous experience all round, for one thing, he was having to relearn how to use all of his power. He couldn't even summon his wings at that instant.

"Have you forgotten what day it is on the outside world?" Lucifer smiled smugly. Percy growled his response as an arrow punctured the thick leather coat that surrounded his back, fortunately it hadn't been able to produce the same effect against his flesh. It seemed that with each passing second the hardness of his skin was multiplying, so he was quickly regaining his status as nigh immortal even among immortals.

"Yes, it's the day that the universe should celebrate the birth of wee baby Jesus and forget about your sorry ass, am I right or is that the wrong holiday Luci?" Percy was quickly nearing the absolute end of his metaphorical tether as another arrow ripped through the arm of his coat before snapping against his actual arm. Aside from the fact that if an arrow from Artemis hit him dead on that it would hurt, there was no reason for either of them to still be fleeing the hunters.

"OW!" Lucifer cursed as an arrow from the silver Goddess managed to thump right into the meat of his buttocks. One glance from Percy and it was all over in an instant. Death had been rendered unable to continue running as he was far too busy rolling around the floor laughing at Lucifer who was tenderly touching at the arrow in hopes of removing it without causing any further pain.

"That is enough! You will co-operate with me, Titan, or the next arrow will be right between your eyes. You might be just about the strongest opponent that Olympus has ever had but even you will be forced to take some time to reform after that kind of damage." Artemis told him with a cold tone as they both locked eyes with one another. With Lucifer far too preoccupied to break this momentary situation of peace, Percy decided that he would finally make his first move in retrieving Artemis' influenced mind.

"I'll tell you what, silver Goddess, I'll play a game of chance with you." Percy told her with a small smile on show as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin. "One side of this drachma is gold and the other side is silver. I'll flip it in the air, if it lands silver side up then you owe me thirty minutes to talk to you in private and I won't harm you or your hunters, no tricks. If it lands on the gold side then I will agree to whatever your demands are. This I swear on the river Styx." Thunder rumbled violently in the distance. Artemis was so shocked that he had put all of that freedom on the line in order to have the chance to just talk to her, "So how about it Goddess?" He asked quickly, coin resting on his thumb just waiting to be flipped.

"Flip it." Artemis told him through narrowed eyes. There had to be a trick hidden in there somewhere but he had sworn on the river Styx and his wording could not be faulted. He'd promised not to attack her or her hunters and if he lost his wager then he'd agree to whatever she told him to do.

The coin was flung high into the air, a glint of sharp gold reached all of their eyes as the metal brilliantly reflected the bright rays of the sun. "Death, stop playing games and help me get this damn arrow out of my ass!" Lucifer moaned in the background but no one was paying attention, not even a single hunter was able to tear her eyes away from the coin that was almost falling in slow motion.

After what had felt like an eternity, the coin had dropped to the floor, and the verdict had been reached.

 **Line Break – Ahh, I can't wait to write the next Percy/Lucifer part.**

"Oh?" Wrath looked to his side with a small glance. It seemed that Famine's transformation was finished. The light had dimmed but it still enveloped the body that was left standing. Wrath was fairly impressed and that in itself was a rare statement. It wasn't exactly one body remaining but a small mixture of Famine's original body mixed in with that of Reyna's.

She was tall, taller than most of the humans but not overly so. It was clear that the tanned skin had tried to remain dominant but still held the tiniest shine of green if you looked in the right light. Her eyes had remained a brown so dark that they almost looked black unless you were looking correctly. Her long brunette hair had remained as opposed to Famine's short black style.

She wore similar leathers that Famine had turned up in but with golden plates of armour moulded around her body on top of that, complete with the whip that hung onto the side of her belt perfectly.

"She returns but as who; Famine or the pre-emptively ascended war Goddess?" Wrath mused to himself but it didn't go unnoticed.

"Both. I am both Reyna and Famine but right now… Reyna's body, Reyna's mind, but…" Reyna stopped short slightly as if she was looking for the right words. "Still the Horseman of Famine and still with her speaking to me inside my mind. If we should need to, we can change who is in control. We both feel the same things, we both see, hear and know the same things." Reyna told him calmly. It seemed that whatever fear that Famine had held in the presence of Wrath had all vanished now that they were one.

"Well, if that is your transformation complete, I would like to request that you remain here and watch over this battle in case Gaea or Tartarus decide to show themselves. I have to be somewhere else." Wrath told them quietly before stepping backwards and going to leave them.

"Of course but what is it that you will be doing?" Reyna snapped her fingers as she asked this. A spear appeared in her hands, she was just itching to test out her new found power. Wrath stopped for a second as he just gazed into the distance before he granted them his focus once again.

"My master is trapped inside his own mind and while I'm sure that he will be doing what he can to escape, I am going to try and free him from the outside. I sent Lust and Chaos' Virtue of Chastity to find the other unbound Sins to defend the edges of Chaos' plateau against what is turning out to be inevitable." Wrath's tone was soft. Reyna had wondered if he really could encapsulate Percy's true anger but once she'd become the Horseman of Famine, all of that knowledge that had flowed into her had helped her to understand that he had it locked down until he permitted it to be unleashed.

After a few seconds of Reyna's expression not changing, Wrath decided to explain it fully, "If I myself cannot at least halt Void's plans or defeat her then nobody in existence will be able to do so until Death is freed. Only the master will be able to contend with Void." Wrath told them with the smallest hint of a smile Reyna had ever seen on someone before he was shrouded in blood red dust that signalled that he was no longer there.

 **Line Break – Here we go.**

"Why didn't you manipulate the coin!?" Lucifer barked, pulling against the chains that held his wrists above his head. Both himself and Percy had been restrained after Death had lost the bet with the coin. Percy looked like he was already reaching the peak of his patience for Lucifer's whining. They were both being held in a room connected to the side of the Olympian throne room. There they were being held captives ready to be judged by the council.

"Why didn't YOU!?" Percy shouted back, trying to elbow Lucifer but his hands were tied as well. Percy was being held with extremely thick Olympian gold shackles that were tied with celestial bronze chains. Lucifer just had some immense iron cuffs that had been inscribed with some seriously heavy magic by Hecate.

"I just wish that they could have gotten this arrow out before chaining us up. I'm sure that arrow head has slowly made its way towards my rectum. Any minute now and I'm going to be shitting silver shards of metal for a week." The devil moaned uncomfortably. With his constant squirming he'd only managed to make the situation much worse.

"If you had of sat still then you wouldn't have snapped the shaft and gotten the arrow head lodged in like it has. Idiot." Percy responded quietly. He was sure that their room was being moved around magically because he felt the strangest feeling around his wrists where all of the power in the shackles was being concentrated.

Another moment passed by before they were both being presented to the entire Olympian council, Hades included. They were still being held to large metal poles. "Perseus, Titan of Death, and his friend named Lucifer. You have both been charged with the death of multiple huntresses and other war crimes against Olympus, how do you plead?" Zeus' tone wasn't as half as bored as Percy had expected it to be, perhaps it was because of the fact that they had captured someone who was such a burden to them.

"Guilty I guess, I dunno, I only got here like an hour ago. And the winged idiot isn't my friend. We're more like frienemies, you know, arch-fremesis… We're not friends." Percy made it abundantly clear. Judging from the faces of the Olympians, they weren't amused.

"Your sentence is ironically death, any last words before that happens?" Apollo was the one who asked the question, standing up and harnessing his bow. Perhaps he had a personal vendetta against Percy for some reason or another.

"Yes, I was waiting for the right time to get this off my mind. Artemis… You and I are the only real beings in this world, well, and this idiot. Your mind is being filled with a false history." Percy told them all bravely, gradually pulling himself off the floor, still in the shackles that clanged with every movement.

"A pathetic last attempt." Apollo scoffed.

"Fine, I'll go for the direct route. I'm not a Titan, this world is MY mind, and, uh, let's see…" Percy garbled for a few seconds before looking right at Apollo, "I have had rigorous sex with your twin sister. It was amazing and she nearly tore apart my physical body. STILL have the scratch marks, this I swear on the river Styx." Percy grinned when after a few seconds, thunder rumbled and the whole of the throne room was thrown into not so hushed gasps.

"You're not making me want to execute you any less, you may have made a pact with Styx because you're on par with the laws of Death." Apollo's face had whitened and his words were unsure, Artemis looked on completely neutrally. What if this world really was all just fabricated and what he was saying was true. If he wasn't a Titan, then just who was Perseus?

"Do I look like I made silly deals with my soul just to be able to perform simple trickery? I am far above even Moros. I AM Death, the Primordial concept!" Percy's voice echoed around the room violently which effectively hushed the whole place.

There was silence where none of the Olympians seemed to believe him. They must have just thought that he was pulling off some brave theatrics.

With a roll of his eyes, Percy turned to the devil, "Lucifer! Swear on the damn river!" Percy bellowed furiously.

The Fallen Angel sighed heavily as all eyes were on him, "Fine, but I'm only doing this to prove a point." He straightened up and stretched his back slightly, as if he knew that betraying his word on the river Styx was going to be immeasurably painful, "I too have slept with that Goddess," He slowly drawled as he pointed to Artemis with a cringe on his face, "I swear it on the river Styx-" The moment that he had finished his sentence, black lighting struck out and fried the devil furiously to the point that he had collapsed into the ground. Along with laying him out, it had completely destroyed the chains holding him to the post.

There was a following sound of flesh bubbling as he laid completely still against the marble floor. The slightest groan was escaping his lips as he barely remained attached to the temporary body that had been granted to him while they were inside Percy's mind.

Percy fell back against the pole as he tried to muffle the intense laughter that was threatening to escape from his lips. "That was so totally worth it." He muttered under his breath, a lone tear of amusement escaped from the side of his eye.

"That idiot!" Artemis exclaimed in shock. Just because Perseus had told him to do it, she never expected anyone to so willingly break a promise on the Styx, that was a gamble on someone's soul.

"Hey! The arrow head came out!" Lucifer's voice filled the throne room as his hand slowly found itself forming a thumbs up in the air. A second later and he hauled himself into a seated position before glaring at Percy who was still laughing away at the thunder struck devil.

"So let's discuss what's really going on in this world of ours." Percy grinned as he pulled himself free of the chains from sheer strength along. "Because if you all think you can even do so much as dent me with your master weapons then you've got another think coming." He told them with glee as he saw their faces turn from shock to horror.

"Besides, I've come to rescue the one I fell in love with." He announced before sending Artemis a sly wink that made her cheeks burn. Who was he really?

 **A/N: Merry Christmas ya' filthy animals!**


	27. Chapter 27 - Straight Through The Heart

**Chapter 27 – Straight Through The Heart**

 **A/N: Sorry that I've been away for a while. I've been working on my novel, which takes time. I'm getting some great headway with it though, so you know, that's a thing. It takes precedent over most of my free time but I want you all to know that I haven't or ever will give up on writing the stories that you all love to read. I know a few others are inactive at the moment, but I WILL get around to updating everything sooner or later, I promise you.**

 **Also, I'm sure I said this a gillion times now, but I'm on twitter TheDonSocrates**

 _"~High-way to the DANGER-ZONE!"_ Lucifer bellowed at the top of his voice. He span on his heel gracefully as a supercharged arrow from Apollo's bow had gone careening straight past his face. If the Fallen Angel hadn't been so perfectly dodging every attack coming his way then perhaps these Gods would have still believed themselves to be the ones at the top of the food chain but at the current rate of things, Lucifer could see their determination falling.

It was becoming painfully obvious to the Olympians that they had no hope of defeating Lucifer. The past five minutes had been filled with him almost dancing around each of their attacks with his eyes closed while he spent most of his focus on hitting the right vocal notes with his singing.

The fact that to the Fallen Angel, getting the song right was taking precedent over avoiding the Olympians, they were starting to see exactly what kind of fight they were in the middle of.

The moments after Perseus had broken free of his bonds from sheer strength and declared his true reasons for coming to Olympus had been nothing but utter chaos. He'd instantly challenged Artemis on something that the Goddesses' pride would not allow her to give up and the two of them had erupted from the throne room in a brutal fight of pure power. It was anyone's guess where they were at that current moment but the other Gods and Goddesses had much more pressing issues to worry about.

Namely how any of them were going to move forwards with the dancing devil. "I must say, you're still fighting on despite the fact that I have done absolutely nothing to you. I wasn't even the aggressor between Death and Artemis… Well, except for that prison you put us in but hey, the door was still fine. I think." Lucifer shrugged with a mischievous grin plastered over his features. His powerful red eyes lit up like an exploding sun before his wings were splayed across the length of the throne room.

"I have no quarrel with you and considering that none of you have wronged me, I shall take my leave. I'll find out where Death and Artemis have gone, might even tell you if they aren't naked again." Lucifer's smile only grew tenfold when he heard the aggravation coming from the Gods. Just before his wings ripped him out of the throne room and into the bright Grecian skies above mount Olympus, he laughed at their frustrations, the fact that they had finally realized the true size of the gap in power between themselves and him was the icing on the cake.

As Lucifer glided across the skies, he looked down and saw the visible trail of carnage. It looked like there were a lot of craters on one side of a clear line of destruction, the other side held long trenches. If he were to guess, he'd sat that Death and Artemis had been running alongside one another, the Goddess firing arrow after arrow which would have left the craters in Death's wake, and the other side must have been the occasional rupture of pure energy that would have left entire trenches trailing behind it. "Bet he only had to point at her to make those as well. Overpowered bastard." Lucifer huffed with a slight chuckle.

The Fallen Angel dived towards the ground, picking up enough speed in such a short amount of time that he easily breached the sound barrier. It had been so long since he'd been free to fly and yet, his previous aspirations for stretching his wings had been those belonging to a devil of an unrighteous nature. He wasn't sure if he preferred being morally 'neutral', at best, but that didn't change the fact that he WAS. After another ten minutes of flying, he had finally caught up to the duo. It seemed they'd stopped moving and were instead having an incredible fist fight.

"Lucifer!" Death bellowed out to him from below as soon as the reaper had felt Lucifer approaching them, "Something is totally wrong, Artemis was NOT this powerful before I got trapped in here!" With a sigh, Lucifer decided that was an order to join the fight if ever he'd heard one.

"I don't particularly see that as being MY problem Death." Lucifer shrugged with his totally casual expression of his careless closed eyes. He had every intention of doing as Death asked him to because that was the best chance that they had of escaping and giving Lucifer those precious few seconds to materialise a physical body and attack the one who had forced him to be overwritten at his very core concept.

"Well, for one thing, as soon as I free Artemis' mind from her current state, she'll remember what you done to her, and if she's able to almost match me in my current state…" Percy slowly explained the specifics of why Lucifer should worry.

With each passing word, the once smug Fallen Angel stood with his arms folded but his casual demeanour had dropped faster than anything. His eyes portrayed sheer horror and his mouth was slack, no words being able to escape.

Artemis slowly turned her head towards said Fallen Angel with fire in her eyes, "He did WHAT to me?" Her slow tone was just about the most terrifying thing Lucifer had ever heard.

"Haha, that was going to catch up to you sooner or later." Percy stifled a laugh, not wanting to bring back Artemis' attention so quickly after he'd only just bought himself a few seconds of relief.

"It wasn't me, it was my previous incarnation, I swear! Death, just tell her what she needs to hear." Lucifer dodged an arrow with millimetres of space to spare. The reaper was right, Artemis really was far stronger than she'd been before. Was she too feeding off of Death's power? No, that wouldn't have been right, it was possibly Void, the one who had put them all in there, she'd have enough power to 'bless' Artemis with the power to make Death's task unfathomably more difficult than it would have been otherwise.

"Like WHAT, Luci? Because right now she's still not convinced even after I swore on the river Styx. It's not a matter of convincing her, it's a matter of breaking through whatever is controlling her mind." Death shot back irritably. Because of Lucifer's distracting statement, Percy had been too slow to dodge the latest attack sent from Artemis.

An arrow struck him dead on in the chest, right beside the leather lapel that covered him, instead the arrow hit him straight in the flesh. He was getting stronger and regaining his power quicker than ever before but something had boosted Artemis' own power and because of that, the arrow had pierced his flesh straight away, embedding itself deep into him.

"Shit!" Lucifer cursed, moving quicker than he realized that he could, he crunched his heel across the air, smashing into Artemis' forearms as they rapidly formed her guard. She slid back a few dozen feet from the one attack. It had done almost nothing to her but it had at least given him time to check on Death who hadn't even faltered to his knees.

"Lucifer, when I said help I meant in ways that doesn't include you physically harming my girlfriend." Percy growled angrily. For the first time since they'd been there, he'd adopted an intense aura. His Sins had all been detached from him the moment that they'd arrived inside their mental prison but he was the original reason for the birth of those Sins. On their own, their power would never top his.

"You keep calling me that." Artemis muttered from behind Lucifer who had turned to face Death entirely. She was promptly ignored though she could see why. The 'Titan' that she'd known him as for all that time was almost engulfed in black flames that were all around his body, even from his eyes as he intensely stared at the winged idiot.

She wasn't sure who she was more surprised with, Perseus or the devil who wasn't intimidated by this. "Finally, you've finally brought yourself out of your depressive rut of relaxation. I think you need to tell Artemis how this all began. That might help her see reason." Lucifer grinned.

Artemis was about to demand answers from him before the wind whipped at her arms. Next thing she knew there was a cloud of dust shooting towards the skies where Lucifer's body was now freely roaming.

"What is he talking about!?" Artemis bravely stepped towards Perseus who was only just reeling in those black flames that had erupted around his skin. His eyes turned from billowing wisps of black to normal eyes of the same colour before they finally rested on a shade of emerald that was so vibrant they were nearly glowing. Who was he, really?

"Lady Artemis of the Hunt. Please listen to my words carefully." He told her, respectfully kneeling before her. She decided to take this moment of weakness and actually hear what words he held for her instead of striking him down. She needed answers more than she needed a hollow victory over him.

"My name was Percy Jackson, I was born about four thousand years from now, in the world that's currently happening outside this mental prison." Percy stood straight once again, standing well above her. His words confused her, but she wasn't about to interrupt him.

"I was born as the son of Poseidon. I was the demi-god who defeated Kronos, among others. At some point in my life, I got trapped by Kronos in a time lock and spent seven years inside that time vortex. During THAT spell, I also got trapped in literal Hell for a hundred and fifty one years. By the time I escaped Hell and Kronos' time lock, only three months had passed in the mortal world." Artemis stood slack jawed at what she'd just heard.

If that was the truth then he'd been through so much. A son of Poseidon, that was almost immediately believable because of just how powerful his green eyes were.

"I was found in the depths of Hell by an old one, whose name was Death. The primordial needed someone to pass the mantle onto as it was old and tired of being nothing more than essence. The previous personality died and I, Percy Jackson, became one with Death." Percy's voice slowly faded.

"So you are Death itself? But that doesn't explain, you know… The parts about 'us'." She looked away, going red in the face much to Percy's secret pleasure.

"As a demi-god we fought alongside each other sometimes, I even held up the sky for you once, but that's a story for another time. Soon after I returned from being missing, you asked me for a favour, something that was granted to you because I asked you to fight me, and you won. I was tasked with training each and every one of your hunters to be as ready as they could be for the war that's happening outside this prison right now." Percy's words weren't just hollow sentences of trickery.

Artemis could have sworn that everything she'd known in this life was real but there was always something wrong, but his words, the man whom she'd been sworn enemies with, his words were heavy and they caused something in her chest to pull harder and harder every time he looked into her eyes.

"Slowly, over time, we fell in love with each other. You were inflicted with my Sin of Lust, that's where we ended up together for a whole night. You once jumped into Tartarus to walk me out and I went straight back to Hell to get you out. We've been through a Hell of a lot Artemis, and honestly…" Percy's voice became slow and heavy as the distance between the got shorter and shorter.

The next thing they knew, they were both locked with each others lips, sharing the most passionate kiss they'd ever had. It wasn't lust filled like before, in fact, it was pure and innocent, but that didn't change the feelings that it conveyed perfectly.

"I lo-"

 **A/B: Hahaha, I'm such a prick.**


	28. Chapter 28 - Soul Searching

**Chapter 28 – Soul Searching**

 **A/N: I love how literally NONE of you trust me with these cliffhangers any-more. Speaking of cliffhangers...**

"We've been through a Hell of a lot Artemis, and honestly…" Percy's voice became slow and heavy as the distance between the got shorter and shorter.

The next thing they knew, they were both locked with each others lips, sharing the most passionate kiss they'd ever had. It wasn't lust filled like before, in fact, it was pure and innocent, but that didn't change the feelings that it conveyed perfectly.

"I lo-" Percy was interrupted by the sounds of Lucifer's smouldering body smashing into the ground next to their feet. His wings while previously blackened due to being a Fallen Angel, were now completely ashed, most of the feathers were burnt away, the remainder in the process of dying in flames. His skin was fading away and it was obvious that something incredibly bad was happening.

"What the-" Percy shouted in alarm as he looked down at the former devil.

"Shit. I forgot that the moment you succeed in freeing yourself by Void's rules that my body will no longer be 'eligible' to exist." Lucifer sighed. He pushed himself on to his feet from shaky knees. Every part of his body was gradually breaking down.

With only a few seconds to decide what he wanted to do, Percy was having a mental battle with himself. Through his own subconscious power, he had given Lucifer a new life, built him from scratch to the point where he was no longer the same devil that he had once been. There was nothing in his heart that seemed to be evil. He'd have a lot to answer for but Percy was sure that if he was given a second chance that he would be an incredibly useful asset to himself.

Especially if he was going to permanently reform the devil and make him swear fealty to Death. With a sigh, knowing that this was going to cause him great mental strain, he walked over to the burning devil. Crushing the air inside his palm, a black light worked through his fingers. Both Lucifer and Artemis both looked on in confusion.

Everything was coming back to the Goddess but it was all coming at once and she was struggling to process everything. Lucifer had tortured her, lightly albeit but torture none the less. He'd gotten what he deserved when Percy had reaped his soul but this new Lucifer, he didn't seem so bad but he was still Lucifer. There must have been a damn good reason that Percy had been with him when she had discovered the two of them.

Once Percy had opened his hand, there was a small black crystal sitting comfortably. "I'd say please don't hurt me but right now I'm not sure my pain receptors can take anything else." Lucifer grinned weakly, this was so much worse than the arrow in his ass.

"Idiot." Percy sighed with a smile. Yeah, he greatly preferred this Lucifer to the one he'd known as an enemy. With incredible effort, Percy pushed the black crystal into Lucifer's forehead. The Fallen Angel grunted in major discomfort but was entirely unable to prevent Death from doing pretty much whatever he wanted.

Lucifer was about to say something else before his entire body disappeared in a flash of light. Percy saw the demanded look on Artemis' face. She needed an answer for just what the Hades had happened there.

"I pushed his temporary soul into a little rock. I'll make sure that my new 'apprentice' of sorts is given a new body." He explained with a shrug. The once beautiful blue skies above them had begun to swirl around themselves, large chunks of what appeared like solid puzzle pieces began to shatter and fall to the ground.

"Um... Should the sky be doing that?" Artemis pointed. At this moment, she was far beyond being surprised by pretty much anything that ever happened around Percy. Sure, this was a new one but this sort of thing was THE sort of thing that happened daily when you were in the life of Percy Jackson.

"Probably not but after everything is said and done, this place is just a bad manifestation of Greece from within my own mind. We SHOULD be able to manifest ourselves if we try flashing somewhere." Percy told her, not entirely sure himself but there wasn't really anything to lose by at least trying.

"So where should we go, I'm not sure what's happening in the world outside." She answered truthfully. In actuality, her mind was stuck in a loop, she couldn't bring herself to drop what Percy had been about to say to her, it was something that she'd been waiting to hear come out of his mouth for such a long time.

"Ugh..." Percy began before realizing that he had literally no idea of how to explain the current events of the world to her. "Well... Zeus, Hades and my father are on an absolute rampage because you were plucked out of thin air and thrust in here. Uncle Zeus has basically said 'fuck you' to the ancient laws as he's personally fried a few gigantes. Forgot how powerful he really is." Percy mumbled the last part. Artemis listened silently, they had really all gone that far just because she was taken from them?

She forgot that despite the fact that she hated most men, that the three elder Gods were still Gods and in their prime they had been shining examples of what men should really have been, until the weight of being a God had gone to their heads.

She wouldn't be surprised if when she finally got out of Percy's mental prison that she'd find Poseidon and Hades following Zeus' lead and going back to their origins with an extra touch of morality added here and there.

"Also, um, all seven of my Sins have materialized. Wrath has temporarily killed War, so that'll be fun to go back to." Percy muttered. An off-thought had struck him. He was sure that Wrath was aware of how War's life worked, he was also sure that the strongest Sin could quite easily have completely erased War from existence, the current War at least.

"Uh oh." Percy announced with wide eyes, "Time to go!" He quickly put his hand on Artemis' shoulder and the two of them vanished from the crumbling scape of ancient Greece. The moment that they were gone, that whole false world had ceased to exist. Death had gone elsewhere with the Goddess of the Hunt. The Goddess of the Hunt that had been favoured by a creation deity.

 **Line Break. Got drunk on New Year's Eve. Somehow I made myself a Lord. I'm not even kidding... I'm a Lord.**

"You know," Lust began with a sigh of content, "We should TOTALLY consummate this truce." Lust followed Chastity as they walked through the Roman forum fairly casually considering that there was a war raging a hundred foot behind them.

"I wouldn't be a very good Virtue of Chastity if I did that, now would I?" She asked him rhetorically. He huffed quietly but knew that there was little chance of that happening with her. He was the Sin of Lust, he could pretty much have any guy or girl that he wanted, except that one that was absolute forbidden fruit for him, and that just made him want her even more.

"You're so boring sometimes, you know that, Prudence?" Lust walked with both hands comfortable behind his head. He watched as she led the way, holding out a rather aggressive red orb of light that seemed to be guiding the way they were going.

"You KNOW that my name isn't Prudence so stop calling me it. We have to find the being that War's soul is searching for. You should know better than I do that the number of the Horsemen is always four." Her words were just so... Boring to him. She drawled on and on when all he really wanted to do was have some fun.

"Cool, if you need me, I'm going to go and find another bath house. Doubt they'll let me go back in the other one after I..." Lust went quiet. Chastity looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. There he was, standing with his head resting on his hands but with a completely neutral expression on his face. It almost came across as gormless, "I just doubt they'll let me go back." He finished before looked back at her for a split second. Lust turned on his heel and began walking away before Chastity pulled him by the collar of his leather jacket.

"Not so fast Mr. Libido. Wrath's plan is solid and being a fellow Sin, you should understand why it's vital that we find the person War's soul is searching for. Wrath seems to believe that when Death returns to face Void, the Four Horsemen will be the thing that is able to stop her." Chastity continued in her regular tone of monotony.

"Your face is so pretty that it doesn't match your robot voice that's telling me useless shit. Now let go of me Chastity, I can get laid and find the next War at the same time. Multitasking to have sex is kinda my thing." He told her firmly as he swat away her hand with an impressive glare in his eyes.

This was one of the Sins of Death but if you'd have known the kind of man that Percy Jackson was before he gained the Sins then you would never have believed them to be the same person.

"Every time you talk I find myself questioning whether you are truly a Sin of that man." She shook her head. It was only a matter of time before Lust's antics gave her a divine headache.

"Look, you have to be here. Timing is crucial and I'm not sure that I can get the new War to Chaos' plateau on my own, not in the time frame that they're needed." Chastity admitted.

Lust seemed to be analysing her carefully. His pink bright crimson iris' flashed to an encapsulating shade of pink, not too sickly and not too dull, before they returned to red. "Fine, I will remain on focus for the remainder of this mission, do whatever you tell me to without question and help you in whatever way you want me to in order to get this new War to Chaos' plateau for this colossal fist fight of sorts." Lust told her without a single trace of sarcasm in his voice.

Chastity stood in utter shock for a few seconds, "Oh, well goo-"

Lust interrupted her with his signature grin that meant nothing good for one named Chastity, "In exchange for a single kiss." He added before she could finish. The Virtue had quickly traded her surprise for rage. She'd been wrong, there was no redeeming quality in this idiot.

"After we finish this business. Because once it's all done there's a good chance that Death is going to keep me sealed up again and if I don't take this chance to get a kiss from the one that I want the most, then I'll just be engulfed in regret for the next thousand odd years." He admitted with a shrug.

Chastity wasn't really sure how to respond to that, she felt oddly... Impressed with how well thought out it was. It wasn't entirely Lust based either, yes it was motivation because he couldn't ever have sex with her but instead he was choosing to give himself to her command in exchange for a single kiss.

"I'll think about it." She admitted before looking back at the red flaring soul in her hand. "It wants us to go to... Olympus?"

 **Line Break. Have you figured out who War is going to be? Because I haven't.**

The Horseman of Conquest rode along a pathway of galaxies and solar systems as the vast black scape of space dotted with stars, flew past him. Conquest was once again back in his preferred form, that of a blond man with striking blue eyes and a set of impressive pearly teeth, an 'award winning smile' as he often liked to put it.

He'd never meant to return to the way he was before, the return of the Archangel was brought out in the heat of the moment when he saw War holding his daughter by the throat. It hadn't taken him long to reign himself in once he was standing atop the plateau in the holy city, his daughter in his arms, awaiting to hear anything from Uriel who simply stood in amazement at the sight before her. Thousands of other Angels had been floating above, all gracefully watching him in silence before he'd returned to the form of the Horseman, proclaiming that it wasn't his time to return, which had been true in his mind.

His daughter had the blood of an Archangel in her and within the holy city, the rules that applied to demi-gods didn't apply to her. She'd be able to devote herself to the path of an Archangel is she so wished, and she would become a leader to the mass of Angels that were all looking for guidance.

It seemed that everything the Angels had held against him had been washed away when they'd heard that Lucifer had paid for his sins a thousand times over when he'd been forcefully reaped from existence by Death.

Conquest wondered what would happen if Death decided to bring Lucifer back, he was possibly the only one that had been able to have a temporary glimpse into Death's situation. He had no way of describing the volume of shock he'd experienced upon seeing Lucifer, the Lucifer from the past when he'd not been corrupted by absolute sin and evil.

It wasn't the look of the Archangel Lucifer but of the first stages of the Fallen Angel, the one that still believed himself to be right but simply a misguided soul. On top of everything, Conquest desperately hoped that Death knew what he was doing and what he was going to do when he returned.

Millions of miles in the distance, Conquest could feel the unmistakable feeling of a Sin. A greatly powerful sin at that. The blaze of fire that rained across the deep canvas of empty space was a sure sign that is was Wrath. Who else held enough power to carve a path of fire in space where there was no oxygen?

"I guess if I had to fight an impossible fight with a Sin by my side it would be that one." Conquest chuckled darkly. The only way he was going to survive what came next was by a complete miracle. He was feeling drained from the loss of a Horseman. They were all deeply connected to each other. Conquest knew that the best hopes of survival for the rest of reality was for him to slow Void down enough that she'd not be in the midst of destroying creation by the time Death returned.

 **Line Break. WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB!**

Percy erupted through a wall in the highest room of the Soul Forge. In that room was a case with dozens of fragments of a sword held inside it in an almost ceremonial stance. "Sorry Artemis, didn't really want you to see this bit." He whispered to himself, apologizing to the Goddess whom he'd sent elsewhere. No other Horseman was in the Soul Forge, just the reaper who was here to unlock the final gate in his path to finishing the work that the old Death had started.

Extending his hand towards the case, he willed every part of that sword to melt together. He had to use the power of his own soul to finally complete the sword. It's name was incomprehensible and lost to time.

"Lord," He whispered, his voice coming out as a cavernous echo that splintered the walls and started making the entire Soul Forge crumble,"-OF THE LAST DAY!" The whole place was engulfed in light before it ceased to exist entirely. The Soul Forge had been destroyed by the mere presence of The Lord of the Last Day.

Percy stood alone on a derelict planet, old ruins of a once thriving civilisation stood in the distant desert. A red sun sat in the middle of that solar system. The son of Poseidon watched the skies with keen emerald eyes. Comfortable in his long black leather coat that held beautifully ornate silver stitching around the edges. Two holes along his back allowed for his fully extended black wings to move freely, the feathers as dark as the night and smooth as silk. In his hands rested a long staff of bones that ran all the way up to a blade of darkness. Death was whole once again and in his hands rested the scythe that ended all lives, each one adding something to the blade.

"One soul left to reap before everything changes. I hope I can get to Artemis in time when it happens or none of this will be worth it." Percy sighed heavily, this plan was flawed from the beginning.

He wiped a hand across his forehead, his plan already taking a huge toll on his physical body in what was only the first stage, "Such a huge sacrifice to make... Giving up the mantle of Death."

 **A/N: I bet none of you can predict what will happen. Don Socrates strikes with a plot twist again. Hah, I get such amusement from fucking with you guys :D**


	29. Chapter 29 - War's Soul

**Chapter 29 – War's Soul**

"When I hear that trumpet sound." Percy whistled to himself. He was walking through sheer nothingness, each footstep taking him hundreds of thousands of miles through space. He knew where he needed to be but he had all of the time in the world to get there, especially when he considered that timing was everything.

Singing to himself as he moved through the silent vacuum of space was something somewhat ironic considering that one single error of even the most minute margin would mean his utter destruction.

What he was planning had such a slim chance of success that it was almost suicidal but if he did succeed then the rewards of pulling off the precise plan of the Last Day would be perfect. A new world of immortals that would survive Void's purge. It was something that even set himself as 'mortal' in their new world.

As he continued to wonder what might happen if he got it wrong, he found himself quickly approaching the place that he needed to be, and the scary thing was that all FOUR Horsemen were vastly approaching Chaos' plateau for their final fight.

But that was wrong, that was all wrong, how had any of that happened, he literally couldn't believe what he was sensing, the soul of War had gone out of it's way to pick them of all people!?

 **Line Break. So early? Yeah, I know, I just had to set the scene.**

Chastity was... Unsure of what Lust's real motivations were but he wasn't dragging his heels like a child during a temper tantrum, which is what she'd been expecting, quite the opposite in fact. He'd actually been fine with going to Olympus with her. The reactions a lot of them were getting was something that Lust couldn't help but love. The two opposing Sins appearing side by side on the surface of Olympus.

As they made their way to the throne room of Olympus, Chastity couldn't help but feel like something incredibly stupid was about to happen, Lust on the other hand was busy being impressively discreet by stealing glances at the forbidden fruit that had manifested in the form of one of Chaos' seven heavenly Virtues.

"There's quite a few people in the throne room." Lust told her quickly, walking along next to her with his arms folded behind his head which caused his t-shirt to ride up ever so slightly. He wasn't doing it on purpose but Chastity got the undeniable feeling that he knew the effect that he had on her just as she was aware of the way that around her, he seemed to be able to reign himself in. They were constantly balancing each other out, what with them being the two weakest Sins and Virtues. The same couldn't be said for Wrath and Patience as Death's Wrath far outweighed Chaos' Patience despite the latter being one of the most formidable concepts in reality as it was.

"I know that." Chastity responded, keeping her eyes firmly placed upon the bouncing soul in her hands.

"There's even a Demigod in there." Lust continued to list off. There he was, being a pain. It was only a matter of time before he started to grate on her nerves, she should probably have been thankful that it had taken him this long.

"I know that, Lust." She told him with a sigh, forcing herself to try and drown out the sound of his somewhat alluring voice.

"One of them is probably War." Lust told her, giving off a sight of his own, only his was far more content than hers.

"..." Chastity offered him nothing but silence and she continued to follow War's soul that pushed on towards the throne room. They all knew that they were going straight for the throne room but whoever it was that had been chosen was totally beyond them.

"Would you say anything if I professed my undying love for you?" Lust asked with a raised brow.

"..."

"We'd have the best sex ever." The Sin smiled as they stood outside the doors to the Olympian throne room. Lust gently pushed it open with a press of his leg, not needing to use even a fraction of his strength in case he accidentally broke the entire thing down.

"W-w-what!?" Chastity's face had burned hotter than the sun as she stuttered and looked at him in pure shock.

"Hey, look. War's found its new host." Lust pointed.

The floating orb shot out of Chastity's hands and flew around the throne room where a few Gods and Demigods had been gathered. It circled above, silencing whatever topic had been discussed. Hades was the strongest God present, having left the battlefield early. Zeus and Poseidon were both still fighting to their hearts content.

The soul slowed down as it circled and older man who reeked of divine blood. He had long black hair that reached down his shoulders and back. "What the fuck is that?" He asked in an immensely thick Birmingham accent.

Lust just stopped dead in his tracks, his face torn between shock and recognition. Artemis was sat in her throne, arms crossed and clearly furious. With a single glance, she could tell that the vision of Percy stood before her was a Sin and not Death himself.

The orb continued to swirl around the head of the man dressed all in black, clad in some golden chains that hung deep around his neck. "Is that Ozzy fucking Osbourne!?" Lust bellowed, squinting his eyes as if the trademark tinted glasses were just a figment of his imagination.

"What? Oh, hello. Where am I again?"

"Fanboy moment..." Lust took in an extremely over the top volume of air into his lungs. Chastity sighed, clicking her fingers so that Lust was suddenly muted to all of them. His lips were moving at the speed of light as he let out of all of pent up fandom.

Clicking her fingers once again, they were all able to hear him, "-and that is why, if you don't make that man immortal, I will tear this world apart." He said with a joyous grin. That would have been troubling to some, if they weren't already totally aware of the kind of antics Death and his Sins were capable of.

"I guess that really does make him the Prince of Darkness, what the hell is-" Lust had been about to ramble before a small explosion of air had erupted around the soul of War. That was when all hell had broken loose in the throne room, because War had been chosen.

 **A/N: I'm back. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I'm sorry that this chapter is only a thousand words. I'm sorry for whatever else I need to apologize for.**

 **But guess what? I finally wrote that book, I wrote my own novel, and god damn am I proud of that thing. I'll probably self-publish it for free, so stick around, you'll probably get a free book at the worst case scenario, and best case you'll find something else to fall in love with.**

 **More regular updated will be on their way, because I have returned. Also, for those of you who knew about the poll that I made. I genuinely cannot believe that you all voted that much...**


	30. Chapter 30 - The Last Day

**Chapter 30 – The Last Day**

The soul that belonged to the Horseman of War had furiously shot around the room, smashing Lust in the face in what most would have assumed to be an 'accident' before the soul had finally chosen the successor to the previous Horseman.

The fiery red orb that emulated an inferno of blood, had finally found it's resting place as it enveloped the Goddess Artemis who was sat in her throne with nothing but utter confusion on her face. Nobody quite knew what was happening save for the Sin and Virtue among them. Before anything else could happen, Artemis had disappeared.

Chastity suddenly turned heel and faced the Sin beside her, "You already knew, didn't you?" She asked, promptly ignoring the cries of outrage that were running around the throne room. Hades was torn between shock and rage, the three elder Gods had only just begun their rampage from Artemis' disappearance and yet she'd returned not long after only to disappear once again.

"No." Lust shrugged casually. He'd shoved his hands inside the pockets lining his leather trousers. He just looked frankly bored to Chastity who eyed him curiously. This was one of the Sins of Death. She had to wonder whether he was telling her the truth or whether even Death's Sins held enough power that they could lie to the Virtues of Chaos.

"I just totally expected it to be her. She's spent enough time around the master that the soul of War would be drawn to one who's begun to feel like a Horseman. If you think about it, she plunged herself into Tartarus alongside Conquest in order to save Death. She was a chief Goddess of the successor to Famine as well, so in the end, it could only have ever been her." Lust shrugged with a smug grin plastered across his face.

A few seconds of silence fell across them before Lust finally turned to walk away, "Now our contingency is in effect, War is back, Famine is leaving and Conquest has arrived at the edge of existence on Chaos' plateau. Now all seven Sins will merge with the master once more, this time of free will, which means that he will be whole again but no longer restricted in any way shape or form." Lust continued before he leapt into the air, disappearing before he'd reached the ground once more.

 **Line Break**

Two women shrouded with pride and grace both stared at one another, each covered in sense of darkness as they regarded themselves firmly alone and ready to engage in a fierce fight, one that would be vastly unseen and waged across the entire universe.

"You cannot stop me, destruction will always be stronger than creation, _dear sister_." Void spat.

"Which is why," A single voice shattered the silence that had fallen upon them. Standing at the edge of Chaos' plateau was a tall man with tanned skin and eyes that blazed with a shade of emerald so vibrant that they looked like pure greek fire. "I'm going to totally erase you here and now." Percy announced with a voice filled with emotion. Rage was prominent, as was pride, and others. He was whole again and all of his sins had become a part of him.

"You managed to escape your little prison, well done, I really didn't think you had it in you to kill your Goddess lover." Void responded, looking as smug as she always managed to. Chaos looked on from the side, not daring to interrupt what Death had to say. She knew that Death hadn't killed the Goddess. Chaos had been keeping a special eye on that particular one, for a while now.

"I didn't kill her actually. No, I escaped my prison when I broke your spell over her mind. WE escaped, and when I say we I mean myself, Artemis, and an old friend." Percy smirked. He pulled the black crystal out of his pocket before crushing it and letting the dust fall to the floor. Before it had even hit the unseen ground of Chaos' plateau, a figure emerged from the black. It wasn't obvious, not until two black wings had unfurled from it's back and a very anguished face belonging to the one and only Devil had emerged.

"Was there absolutely no way for you to make that any less painful!? Unholy shit that hurts!" Lucifer cursed as he tried to comfort his body. Percy almost burst out with laughter at how Lucifer had automatically said 'unholy' in his curse.

"No, there was no other way. What you're feeling is an entirely new body feeling all of it's pain receptors all at once. Deal with it, little bitch." Percy mumbled under his breath with a huge smile.

"Death and a measly Fallen Angel, is that really all you've got for me? Pathetic." Void snarled. Chaos still remained quiet though she had opted for returning to her throne. Void would have to actually prove herself stronger than Death if she wanted to continue with her plans to erase everything.

"You really need to learn how to count," A sauve man interupted. He looked around the plateau with dazzling blue eyes before they settled on Chaos, "My love." He grinned with bright teeth. He knew that no matter what he did, she wasn't going for it.

"Eyes forwards Gabriel, you have more pressing matters." Chaos told him, only barely hiding her smile. She'd never tell him, but she was always warm in the heart whenever he tried to be a hopeless romantic for her.

"Yes ma'am," He muttered, "As I was saying, you really need to get your maths right. It's not just Death and..." He stopped dead when he saw Lucifer standing naked right next to Death.

"I watched you get reaped, how... You look different, you had a haircut?" Conquest asked Lucifer with a slightly raised brow. Out of all the things he could have said or asked, nobody quite expected that to be the reaction.

"A change of heart and a new body actually. It's been a while, brother. Perhaps you should try to finish your speech." Lucifer motioned towards Void who had remained patient considering.

"Oh, right. Something, something, bad maths, something else, basic threat, blah, blah, blah, and here we go, shazam!" Conquest splayed his arms wide. Light infiltrated every nook and cranny of the darkness around them as the whole place turned into a realm of light.

When it faded, there stood two fresh Horsemen, ones that Percy knew very well. Reyna and Artemis were both looking expectantly at Percy but he couldn't offer them any words, he didn't know what Reyna and Artemis wanted to hear, yet he had an inkling of what Famine and War needed to hear.

"Welcome fight fans! In this corner we have Void, a gloomy lady who enjoys long walks in total nothingness, and in this corner we have Death, not a man that's going to give up his mantle easily." Conquest announced as if he was narrating a sporting event.

"Keeping the universe safe from collateral damage tonight we have myself, the Horseman of Conquest, joined by special guests Lucifer and the Angels of the Holy City!" His words became the que for dozens of bright lights in the distance to all start glowing, they were forming a barrier around the plateau.

"Oh thank fuck that they actually answered the call. I would have looked like a MASSIVE tit if they'd have just ignored me." Conquest laughed, breathing a massive sigh of relief.

"You think this is some kind of game!? You'll be the first to die!" Void screeched, striking out her hand at Conquest who wasn't sure what he could do in that almost instantaneous moment. Before he could react to anything, his vision had been filled with the sight of a long black coat. It took him a moment to realize that it belonged to Death.

Percy had caught Void's hand with minimal effort. "I, the Horseman of Death, invoke my right to initiate the end. I am the Lord of the Last Day which begins as of now. I call the Lady of Chaos and the Lady of the Void to deny me my right to Death." His voice was cold, uncaring, but most of all it was incredibly powerful. His once broken and fragmented sword had briefly appeared in his free hand before melting into nothing and disappearing. His coat was next.

"Before anyone had understood what had happened, their whole world had turned white and everything was just gone.

 **Line Break: See, I've spent months just stuck here. Couldn't remember what the last day was.**

She opened her eyes but she didn't know where she was. She was lying on a beach but she wasn't sure why. The sand was hot but not unbearable. It was quite nice on her skin. The sound of waves had reached her. Water eagerly licked around her feet. Slowly, as the waves crept closer to her, they started to reach higher up her long slender legs.

The sun was slowly started to bear down on her, did that mean it was getting closer to mid-day? She swept a lock of auburn hair out of her eyes while she looked around. She remembered being with a man, was that right? Her head was so fuzzy, she couldn't remember anything. She wasn't even sure who she was.

It had taken her a few more seconds before she realized that a man was walking towards her, and he was only a few feet away. "Hey, do you remember what happened?" He asked her gently. He was tall, very handsome as well. He walked across the beach with no difficulty, with his hands in his pockets and his blazing emerald eyes firmly locket with hers.

"Um, no, sorry. Where am I?" She asked, pushing herself onto her knees.

He slowly looked around them with a casual smile playing across his lips, "I don't know." He shrugged, "I've been here for what feels like an eternity, just walking around this island, until you've shown up. What's your name?" He asked her, offering a hand to help stabilize her, but she was more or less alright at that point.

The woman stood completely still, just staring intently at him for a few long moments. Her skin had turned pale, almost as if she'd seen a ghost. "I know who you are. You're the God of Death." She said, sweat dripping down the side of her face.

His smile turned into a frown, "That's the first time anyone has ever called me that. I'm not that scary am I? I guess that's typical, a beautiful woman shows up and she thinks I'm a wackjob grim reaper." He laughed to himself. He really didn't know anything? She stared with narrowed eyes. She KNEW that's what he was, but why was he so important? It wasn't just that he was a Death God, it was that he was something to HER, but what?

"No, none of this is right, what the Hades is going on!?" She demanded, grabbing her hair.

"Hades? Isn't that a gloomy old God?" The man asked her, frowning once again. Was she crazy? That wouldn't make for a good guest on the island.

"God of the underworld, and other things, not important. We shouldn't be here, can't you feel it? We both belong somewhere else!" She told him desperately. She was trying to force him to remember something that she barely could.

"What, like over there? That's ok, the tide won't come in for another half an hour. Not sure how I know that so precisely, it's just a gut instinct." He shrugged, not wanting to come off as the weirdo of the conversation. He was pretty sure that he was safe in that regard though.

"No, as in the whole place. This entire world isn't the one that we belong in." She answered, now busy thinking to herself.

"Well ok then. I'm going to keep walking, it's was nice meeting you, girl who looks like a silver Goddess." He waved over his shoulder as he walking past her and further down the beach.

"Silver Goddess?" She whispered to herself. Her mind flooded itself with a million images and memories of a life long past, and the memories of what happened in her final moments in the existence she'd had with the man who was walking away from her.

"Percy." She whispered with tears in her eyes.

 **A/N: This isn't the end, don't worry. I'm sorry that's it's taken me so long to update, but hear me out.**

 **Fuck off, I'm busy :)**

 **Also, I love all of you. I'll try to update WAY more often than I have been recently. Enjoy this little chapter that brings me back into the fold of things. Death may actually be wrapped up in the next couple of chapters. Enjoy it while it lasts. Review?**

 **Oh, and a side note. I've actually been working on my side account, it's named Metal Pen, there's one story on there called The Prince, you might like it.**


	31. Chapter 31 - The Beginning Of The End

**Chapter 31 – The Beginning Of The End**

 **A/N: Someone on Wattpad is copying this story and claiming it as their own. It's called Legends Never Die; if you're reading this, fuck you :)**

"He has absolutely no idea who he is." A tall man with a relaxed expression watched from the perch of a rocky plateau at the edge of a small mountain that overlooked an entire island.

"Yeah, he didn't think this far ahead, which is dumb because I'm pretty sure that he was omnipotent, or near enough. Perhaps he just used too much power to pull it off this early?" A larger man with sandy blonde hair and glistening sapphire eyes, answered the pondering man on the rock's edge.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Hey, how come you managed to keep all of your power and I'm stuck with the 'Fallen Angel' category of strength?" He pouted quickly.

"Because being evil has a price. Cheer up Luci, at least you managed to keep some strength, besides, you're lucky that you even exist at all. I watched him erase you completely." The standing man laughed quietly as he looked down at the beach where an oblivious deity was walking away from a stunned Goddess.

"Come on Gabriel, it's not that simple is it? He's done something wrong if anyone at all has any power left. His perfect new world was designed to be fixed in place but all he's done is sealed us away in another realm of some kind. No idea where the angry chick is, or the other one." Lucifer huffed, thoroughly unhappy with the circumstances that he'd found himself in.

"Chaos and Void. Those plus him make the three original entities that existed since before time. I serve Chaos as one of the four Horsemen... You're right though, his plan was put into action too soon and it would appear that as a result, the two of us plus Death and Artemis are stuck on this island in a separated realm. If we're lucky then Void and Chaos were both put into their own realms far away from each other." Conquest muttered. He desperately hoped that wherever they were, it was away from THEIR universe.

"Why? The two of them fighting would basically be a celebrity boxing match, for us immortals at least." Lucifer chuckled. The thought greatly amused him. He'd already been erased once, he knew what awaited him if it happened again.

"They'd obliterate reality. Enough idle chat, we need to help that Goddess bring back Death's memories. You've got enough power to make yourself totally unrecognisable by her, don't you?" Conquest queried, glancing at his younger brother from the corner of his eye.

Before Conquest had even finished asking, Lucifer was back on his feet, straitening his collar on a crisp white shirt underneath a finely tailored suit. His hair was kempt and jet black, his eyes still had the slightest tint of red to them in certain lights but were otherwise brown. "Please, I may be the younger brother, but you all learned your tricks from me." Lucifer winked suavely before he disappeared.

Conquest just looked around in confusion. "This is a remote island, why the fuck are you wearing a suit? Do you really think Artemis will believe that you're a bartender in a jungle island? Lucifer?" Gabriel quickly realized that Lucifer was actually already gone.

"Dammit." He sighed, groaning while disappearing as well, hopefully much closer to Death and Artemis than Lucifer was. He was used to competing with the devil, but not in such a friendly manner.

Conquest reappeared in the tree line, hidden by some shadows. Death had somehow managed to dull his own powers and Artemis' down to mortal level, however temporary that was, which meant that Artemis hadn't noticed him flashing around.

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but you look like a rum and coke kind of girl, right?" He heard Lucifer's voice and already wanted to throttle the blasted Fallen Angel. They were supposed to be subtly helping Death back into the fold.

"I'm an immortal maiden Goddess." Artemis responded courtly, not too inclined to share the knowledge about herself and Death 'undoing' the maiden part of her title. She was obviously in NO mood for any of this.

"Virgin rum and coke? No pun intended." Conquest saw the perfect opportunity. While Lucifer was busy grinning at his own terrible joke, Conquest swiped a rusty sword at the tree he was hiding behind, breaking Lucifer off with the sound of the timber falling to the beach.

"One, two, three. You don't look like you've got anything interesting on you, guess you'll make for good prisoners." Conquest spat, already dressed in leathers that a pirate might find themselves donned in.

"Look, I don't know what you guys are doing, but it's getting weird. Bye." Percy waved, walking away from all of them with a weirded-out expression playing across his features. Artemis stayed around just long enough for her to send a scathing glare towards the pirate and the bartender. She considered destroying them just out of concept but she was running out of time.

The Goddess ran towards Percy as he continued to walk away. Conquest and Lucifer shared a glance before they too decided to trudge after the Goddess and the reaper.

"No pun intended, really? You had to go there." Conquest muffled a laugh. He hated to admit it but that had actually tickled him a little.

"Of course, I'm so stupid!" Lucifer announced really quite loud, "She's not a virgin any-more!" He continued. The world fell quiet as the two of them watched Artemis slowly turn on her heel. She glared at them with fire in her eyes, her jaw clenched with wrath.

"You would not know that if you were anyone other than a being who had shared the space of Percy's mind." Artemis was heavily insinuating the one thing that would pin Lucifer as the devil he was. The suave bartender faltered for a second as he failed to think of something smart.

"Lucifer!?" Artemis bellowed.

The Fallen Angel had been about to open his mouth, or run away, he wasn't sure which, but Percy had reappeared looking just as confused as ever. "Like the devil? That's pretty unusual, did your parents not like you or something?" He asked, totally oblivious as to the implication of his words.

Lucifer grit his teeth, taking in forced breaths, "Something like that." He murmured, desperately pretending not to hear the heavily muffled laugh coming from Conquest. It felt more like an insult that his older brother would find that so funny. Here he was, technically the weakest being among them as Artemis had recently been chosen by the soul of War to replace the late Horseman.

The thought of where Famine had ended up, had sprung in Lucifer's mind but he didn't quite think it was the right time to ask. Before appearing on the island in Percy's remote dimension, he saw the faces of those who had been summoned for the final fight with Void. Artemis had no idea what she was doing there, that much was clear. She didn't even know that she'd been picked by the soul of War, so she obviously didn't yet realize that she WAS War. It didn't help that Conquest was keeping himself tight lipped regarding just about everything surrounding them.

Artemis spared no time in rounding on Conquest in his pirate facade, "Bloody Angels, this is why we can't have nice things!" The Goddess raged before storming after Percy once again. She'd catch up to him and force him to remember her, that much she was certain about.

After they were sure that Artemis had moved out of earshot, the two Angels turned to one another, "She's fitting into War's bi-polar exceptionally well, wouldn't you say?" Conquest sighed, it wasn't something that he particularly missed about his dear brother's standing attributes, and Artemis was bound to be a handful even without becoming a Horseman.

"War or not, give it another couple of months for things to develop and she was going to turn into a raging hormonal bitch anyway." Lucifer shrugged with a heavy set sigh.

There was silence as Conquest just stared at his younger brother in a completely neutral deadpan. "...What?"

"Hey boys, what did I miss?" They were broken out of their lingering silence by the approaching voice as a slender woman with the most minute tint of green skin had stepped over the fallen tree and waltzed over to them.

"I never got the chance to catch up with you after your transformation, how are you feeling?" Conquest asked, sending a worried glance over the young praetor's body. She seemed to have not suffered in the slightest, that was confirmed when she'd simply shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm fine, it's weird inheriting thousands of years of memories, it's a lot to take in but I suppose we should be focusing on everything going on around us. This wasn't what Percy was planning, was it?" Reyna asked, looking around in heavyset confusion. Not that the island wasn't nice, it actually looked almost like a tropical vision of paradise, but the five of them on the island, they were the only people that she could sense, anywhere.

"No, it's not. Just so that you're aware, because it isn't inherently clear right now. Us Horseman and Lucifer are the only ones here because we were swept away with Death because of our bond with him. Lucifer's here because he's mentally bonded with Death, everything and everyone else was shut out." Conquest explained. He expected that Famine would have known about Artemis becoming War.

 **Line Break: This is about to get** ** _REALLY_** **weird...**

" _When the Last Day has come, life will be broken down, death will become real, and the black of nothingness will cease to threaten."_ Percy muttered to himself as he walked along the beach. He could feel the vibrations of the woman's feet behind him, they were getting faster, heavier, filled with purpose as she tried to catch up to him.

The air shifted and buzzed around his skin as the most gentle of breezes had begun to fling around him, rustling through the leaves of the trees to his side.

Darkness flowed through the sky, the kind of darkness that only he could see. Doom, impending loss of life, and utter destruction. The ocean's waters shivered in fear whilst lapping at the buzzing grains of sand under his feet.

His memory had begun to fade from darkness into light, clarity of memories that belonged to not only himself, but that of a timeless deity; Death. Here he was, almost a broken man after initiating the Last Day before it's appointed time, and now? Now it had failed, and _IT_ was on it's way to strike Percy down.

The reaper stopped walking, oblivious to anyone else around him. He simply looked out towards the sea, watching, knowing that she was coming. As if on cue, a slender woman with tanned skin had appeared above the waves, slowly strolling towards him, their eyes locked, both of them ready to have their final fight.

This was it, wasn't it? Percy had overshot his chance to lock her away and complete the Last Day, now she was going to kill him and take his power for her own like she'd once promised.

Off to one side, he could feel a number of people coming towards him, but they were now irrelevant. Artemis was by his side, Artemis, or rather, War. Famine, Conquest, and a Fallen Angel. Would they be enough to bring him back from his own darkness if he managed to defeat Void here and now? He could only hope.

"The Goddess Artemis..." Percy began. He saw the tears of relief pooling in her eyes as she realized that her Death had finally recovered his mind. "Everything we know is about to fall apart, so if I don't get the chance to tell you this after what happens next, well..." He sighed before cupping her face and closing the distance between them, enveloping them both in a deep and passionate kiss.

"I love you, more than you may ever realize, and I'm sorry that I pulled you into this world of burdens, and I'm sorry that you're about to witness me at my worst." He told her, pushing her backwards with the slightest touch.

"Percy!?" She was powerless to resist. She fell back into the strong hands of someone behind her, completely unable to escape. As she looked up she saw Conquest, Lucifer, and Reyna all watching Percy with grave faces.

"Saying your goodbyes?" The tanned woman asked with a snide snarl on show. Pettiness had never been so abundant in deities like themselves, not until she'd been refused the universe.

"A goodbye from my gentle nature, yes." Percy admitted before setting his sights on Void once more. She'd finally walked ashore and closed the distance between herself and Percy fairly quickly. The time for games was over, now it was their time to figure out who was to reign eternal.

"One the First Day, Chaos brought life, and on the Last Day, I bring death." Percy announced. His voice was filled with so much authority that the world slowed to a complete halt. He'd slowly reached towards the top of his head, fingertips caressing his hairline, before he brought his hand down. A mask of pure darkness had following his hand, covering his face. The other hand had been held firmly out to his side, darkness erupting from his sleeve, wrapping around his arm and hand before finally forming a tall scythe that promised absolute destruction.

The sky started to boom, darkness tore holes all around them. He was finally complete again with his mask and his scythe, ready to reap on the Last Day.

Death was among them.

 **A/N: I'd honestly almost forgotten about the mask and the scythe, but oh well. The end is near! Hah, get it? Because there's probably only a few more chapters left, and well... Nevermind.**

 **Review?**


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